smirkier; smirkiest
: showing or suggesting a smug, condescending, or self-satisfied attitude : smirking
In [Michael] Keaton's hands, they felt, Batman would become a smirky wisenheimer.—
Bill Zehme
Bill ZehmeI bristle at the sight of their wrinkled smirky faces looking on in amusement as though I dressed up like this for their entertainment.—Tracey Bateman
Tracey BatemanExamples of smirky in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The first half is stilted and smirky, with Farrelly’s filmmaking serviceable at best, some of the motivation very rushed.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2022
Remember the 2018 summit in Helsinki, when Trump horrified the West by swallowing hook, line and sinker Putin's smirky denial of any meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election?
—Star Tribune, 8 Feb. 2021
Jean Smart is a playful presence as Laurie, a smirky mask-hating bull in everybody else’s my-costume-is-my-pathology china shop.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2019
Such a perspective could so easily lean toward smirky voyeurism or cloying cuteness.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017
His go-to weapons — the smirky sarcasm, the barbed comebacks, the vicious politeness — seem uniquely designed to drive his sparring partners nuts, frequently making for terrific television.
—The Hive, 24 Feb. 2017
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Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2022
Remember the 2018 summit in Helsinki, when Trump horrified the West by swallowing hook, line and sinker Putin's smirky denial of any meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election?
—Star Tribune, 8 Feb. 2021
Jean Smart is a playful presence as Laurie, a smirky mask-hating bull in everybody else’s my-costume-is-my-pathology china shop.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2019
Such a perspective could so easily lean toward smirky voyeurism or cloying cuteness.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017
His go-to weapons — the smirky sarcasm, the barbed comebacks, the vicious politeness — seem uniquely designed to drive his sparring partners nuts, frequently making for terrific television.
—The Hive, 24 Feb. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Smirky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smirky. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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