grin

1 of 2

verb

grinned; grinning

intransitive verb

: to draw back the lips so as to show the teeth especially in amusement or laughter
broadly : smile
grinning from ear to ear
grinner noun
grinningly adverb

grin

2 of 2

noun

plural grins
: a facial expression produced by grinning especially in pleasure or amusement
a happy grin
She grew into a nimble young girl of seven winters, a thoughtful girl with shining brown eyes and a wide grinLouise Erdrich
I wanted to wipe the grin off his face [=make him stop smiling.]

Examples of grin in a Sentence

Verb She continued to tease her brother, grinning wickedly. grinned at the kids' fooling around in the pool
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
The couple can be seen grinning and pressing their heads together in one photo, while another selfie shows the pair making funny faces for the camera. Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 15 Feb. 2025 The song sprung out of a feud between the two rappers and is a diss track explicitly calling out Drake, whom Lamar name-checked during the halftime show while grinning and looking directly at the camera. Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025
Noun
Laval has curly hair, a chipmunk grin, and a voice that gurgles with enthusiasm. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 23 Feb. 2025 While guests at Trump’s Black History event whipped out their cell phones to take pictures of the president rubbing salt in our wounds, Woods just stood there with a grin as wide as the gulf between Black and white America, and said nothing. Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 23 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for grin

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English grennen, from Old English grennian; akin to Old High German grennen to snarl

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1565, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of grin was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

“Grin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grin. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

grin

verb
grinned; grinning
: to draw back the lips so as to show the teeth especially in laughter
grin noun

More from Merriam-Webster on grin

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!