smile-smirk

English

Etymology

Compound of smile +‎ smirk. Coined by Irish novelist and poet James Joyce in his 1922 novel Ulysses (see quotation below).

Verb

smile-smirk (third-person singular simple present smile-smirks, present participle smile-smirking, simple past and past participle smile-smirked)

1. To smile while smirking.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 11: Sirens]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 256:

     She smilesmirked supercilious (wept! aren’t men?), but, lightward gliding, mild she smiled on Boylan.

   • 2013, Jeffrey Miller, The Structures of Law and Literature:

     Having inarticulately “rung the bell,” Douce “smilesmirks,” but nothing comes from her lips until the show is over and she teases Blazes Boylan (flirting with him, not Lenehan) that he is “the essence of vulgarity?' Never mind that her surname is French for “sweet,” she goes sour when Boylan leaves the pub immediately thereafter, for an assignation with Bloom's wife Molly.

   • 2014, John Nichols, American Blood:

     He clanged open the register, still smile-smirking—Holy moly, it was really happening, what an adventure, wait'll he told the guys!

Noun

smile-smirk (plural smile-smirks)

1. An instance of smile-smirking; a combined smile and smirk.
   • 2012, Jim Marquez, A Moveable Beast:

     […] and he'd quickly pull out and jettison a storm, turbospewing her back and hair and sheets and face and ears and sly, conniving little smile-smirk.

   • 2014, Nicole Williams, The Crash Trilogy:

     Not because it made his scar disappear, but because it eased it for a few moments. His cocky smile-smirk was a close second favorite.

   • 2014, Zoe Foster Blake, The Wrong Girl:

     He wiped his own face as an indicator, that same smile-smirk painted on his stupid face.

   • 2014, Lisanne Koster, Happily Ever After, Yes Please:

     I'm so not gonna tell him I was giggling because he is in my laps, but honestly, I think he knows. His lips do that smile-smirk thing again and he sits up.