Standard Lemma guide

smarmy

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsmɑː.mi/
  • General-American: /ˈsmɑɹ.mi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)mi
  • CMU ARPABET: S M AA1 R M IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Falsely earnest, smug, ingratiating, or pious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a smarmy salesman with a big smile

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Unctuous, greasy, as hair from pomade.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • buttery praise
  • gave him a fulsome introduction
  • an oily sycophantic press agent
  • oleaginous hypocrisy
  • smarmy self-importance
  • the unctuous Uriah Heep
  • soapy compliments

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: buttery, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, soapy, unctuous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From smarm + -y. Apparently coined by "B.R.L., of Brighton" with sense "saying treacly things which do not sound genuine" in a competition for neologisms in The Academy (London) published on 14 January 1899.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: мазен (mazen) — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Bulgarian: подмазвачески (podmazvačeski) — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Czech: úlisný — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Czech: podlézavý — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Czech: vlezlý — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Finnish: lipevä — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Finnish: lipeväkielinen — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Finnish: liukaskielinen — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • French: obséquieux — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • German: schmierig — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • German: kriecherisch — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • German: pomadig — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • German: schmeichlerisch — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • German: gefühlsduselig — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Italian: ossequioso — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Italian: servile — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Italian: deferente — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Japanese: ごますりの (gomasuri-no) — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sleip — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sleskete — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Polish: obłudny — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Polish: przymilny — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Polish: lizusowski — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Russian: льсти́вый (lʹstívyj) — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Spanish: zalamero — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
  • Swedish: inställsam — Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating