1
general::
noun ADJ. bright, broad, wide | faint, thin, wan, weak | beatific, cheerful, dazzling, happy, radiant, sunny, warm the warm smile in his eyes | charming, gentle, sweet, winning | arch, disarming, enigmatic, mocking, rueful, sardonic, wry She gave a wry smile. | sad | shy | apologetic, sheepish | encouraging, indulgent, reassuring | polite | beguiling | ready | fixed, forced | supercilious | conspiratorial, knowing | grim a grim smile of satisfaction | humourless, mirthless She suppressed a mirthless smile. | crooked, lopsided | toothless QUANT. glimmer, hint, trace A trace of a smile played across her lips. VERB + SMILE have, wear She had a happy smile on her face. | flash (sb), give sb, smile He flashed her a disarming smile. She smiled a smile of dry amusement. | manage She managed a weak smile. | return She returned his smile. | hide, repress, suppress They had to hide their smiles. | forced Her father forced a smile. | bring Her antics brought a smile to my face. | crease into His face creased into a smile. SMILE + VERB fade, freeze, vanish Her sunny smile vanished as she read the letter. | cross sth, flicker across sth, play across sth A faint smile flickered across her face. | tug at the corner of the mouth A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. | grow, spread (across/over sth) Her smile grew radiant. A gentle smile spread over her face. PREP. with a ~ ‘Oh, hello, ’ he said, with a smile. | ~ of a smile of approval PHRASES be all smiles Twelve hours later she was all smiles again. | be wreathed in smiles His face was wreathed in smiles. | wipe the smile off sb's face I'm going to wipe that smile off your face (= make you stop thinking this is funny)., verb ADV. broadly, widely She put down her tools and smiled broadly. | faintly, slightly, thinly, wanly, weakly He looked at the mess and smiled weakly. | dazzlingly, happily, radiantly, warmly Lawrence nodded, smiling happily. | charmingly, gently, sweetly, winningly | benignly, kindly, politely | shyly | encouragingly, indulgently, reassuringly The doctor smiled reassuringly. | apologetically, sheepishly | ruefully, wryly Molly smiled rather wryly and said nothing. | archly, enigmatically | conspiratorially | sadly | grimly | humourlessly, mirthlessly | crookedly, lopsidedly | back He smiled at her, and she smiled back. VERB + SMILE try to | manage to | make sb The memory still made her smile. PREP. at He turned and smiled at me. | with She smiled with pleasure. PHRASES smile from ear to ear, smile to yourself She smiled to herself, picturing how surprised her mother would be to see her.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
2
general::
smile
adverbs
smile broadly
(= very happily, with a wide smile )
• He sat there smiling broadly.
smile warmly
(= in a friendly way )
• The man looked at Kim and smiled warmly.
smile faintly/slightly
(= a little )
• I saw her smile faintly at the memory.
smile politely
• I shook his hand and smiled politely.
smile sweetly
(= in a friendly way, sometimes not sincerely )
• I smiled sweetly and walked away.
smile ruefully
written (= in a slightly sad way )
• ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, and smiled ruefully.
smile wryly
written (= when a situation is bad but also amusing )
• Carew looked at the mess and smiled wryly to himself.
smile thinly
written (= a little, not in a happy or friendly way )
• She smiled thinly. He would be sorry one day.
smile weakly
written (= without energy or confidence )
• ‘It’s OK,,’ she said, and smiled weakly.
verbs
smile to yourself
• Maggie looked at the photo and smiled to herself.
make somebody smile
• His comment made her smile.
smile 2
verbs
give (somebody) a smile
• The boy gave a friendly smile.
flash (somebody) a smile
(= give a quick smile )
• She flashed him a smile.
have a smile on your face/lips
• They all had broad smiles on their faces.
be all smiles
(= be happy or friendly and smile a lot )
• One moment he’s all smiles, the next moment he shouts at me.
force/manage a smile
(= smile when you do not really feel happy or friendly )
• She forced a smile, but he could see disappointment in her face.
wear a smile
(= have a smile on your face )
• She wore a self-confident smile.
return sb’s smile
(= smile back at someone )
• I smiled at him, but he didn’t return my smile.
somebody breaks into a smile/sb’s face breaks into a smile
(= they suddenly smile )
• Anna’s face broke into a smile at the prospect of a guest.
a smile spreads across sb’s face
(= they smile )
• A faint smile spread across her face.
sb’s smile broadens
(= it gets bigger )
• His smile broadened when Sarah walked in.
sb’s smile fades/vanishes
(= they stop smiling )
• Her smile faded and a shaft of panic shot through her.
adjectives
a big/broad/wide smile
(= when you are very happy )
• She had a big smile on her face.
a warm/friendly smile
• Peter Leary welcomed Rachel with a warm smile.
a little/faint/slight smile
• She gave him an apologetic little smile.
a quick smile
• She gave him a quick smile.
a slow smile
• A slow smile spread across his face.
a dazzling smile
(= a big smile which shows someone’s white teeth )
• When he came back she gave him her most dazzling smile.
a beaming/radiant smile
(= when you are very happy )
• ‘I’m so pleased,’ she told him with a beaming smile.
a knowing smile
(= when you know something secret )
• She wanted to smack him for his knowing smile.
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