smarmy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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American comedy icon Carol Burnett shared a clip of Curry's turn as her smarmy brother in Annie, posting on social media that "nobody could play lovable villains better than he could".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Though Dylan Baker is amusingly smarmy as an executive, “Saturday Night Live” star Sarah Sherman gets stuck waving around a squash racket in the very broadly written role of Kris’s agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
And if a physician advertises on a billboard, you can bet they are no better than the smarmy personal-injury lawyer on the next sign who makes a living chasing ambulances.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Levi plays Scott as somewhat smarmy and disingenuous — it’s hard to feel for this guy when he seems absolutely clueless about his own kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
The smarmy guy was oilier than a soggy sack of fries.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
It was a smarmier version of fellow candidate Katie Porter’s infamous interview with CBS last fall in which she, too, tried to police the reporter’s questioning.
From Slate ● May 16, 2026
But now he is old and outdated, while younger, smarmier, more high-tech rivals threaten to leave him choking in bygone glory turned to dust.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025
On her phone she keeps a picture of her mentor, romance novelist Brighton Walsh, dealing a thumb’s down to some of the smarmier words for certain body parts.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2019
The show, at a club in the Castro called Martuni’s, was a high-spirited antidote to some of the smarmier aspects of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2018
To borrow the show’s oft-repeated example of the industry’s smarmiest idealism, shouldn’t women also have an opportunity to make the world a better place?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2019
He leans back in his chair, gives me the smarmiest grin a humanoid face can give, and says, “So? Do you still have that dime?”
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 16, 2017
Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you’ve ever met, or what?”
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Vocabulary lists containing smarmy
Clean Getaway
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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"Roller Girl" by Victoria Jamieson
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