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PlainSpell

smile

/ˈsmaɪl/noun, verb

smile is spelled S-M-I-L-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, smile means “A facial expression comprised by flexing the muscles of both ends of one's mouth, often showing the front teeth, without vocalisation, and in humans…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of smile is smiles.

How many letters and syllables are in smile?

Letters5: S-M-I-L-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing44 times per million words; the 2,290th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is smile?

Smile appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce smile?

  • /ˈsmaɪl/
  • /ˈsmaɪ.əl/

Smile has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-smile.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with smile?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as smile.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: miles, slime, limes.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of smile

  • smiles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • smiling participle, present
  • smiled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does smile mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A facial expression comprised by flexing the muscles of both ends of one's mouth, often showing the front teeth, without vocalisation, and in humans is a common involuntary or voluntary expression of happiness, pleasure, amusement, goodwill, or anxiety.

    She's got a perfect smile.

  2. 2

    Favour; propitious regard.

    the smile of the gods

  3. 3

    datedslangA drink bought by one person for another.

verb

  1. 1

    To have (a smile) on one's face.

    When you smile, the whole world smiles with you.

  2. 2

    To express by smiling.

    to smile consent, or a welcome

  3. 3

    To express amusement, pleasure, or love and kindness.

  4. 4

    To look cheerful and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy.

    The sun smiled down from a clear summer sky.

  5. 5

    To be propitious or favourable; to countenance.

    The gods smiled on his labours.

  6. 6

    Of ackee fruit: to open fully, indicating that it is no longer toxic, and ready to be picked.

noun

as SMILE
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of small incision lenticule extraction: corrective eye surgery in which a femtosecond laser photodisrupts ("carves") a lenticule of tissue within the corneal stroma that is then extracted through a small arc-shaped incision in the side of the cornea.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Smile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsourire (a happy face expression using mouth, but…)
GermanLächeln, Lachla (a happy face expression using mouth, but…), lächeln (to have a smile on one's face)
Portuguesesorriso (a happy face expression using mouth, but…), sorrir (to have a smile on one's face)
Spanishsonrisa (a happy face expression using mouth, but…), sonreír (to have a smile on one's face)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does smile come from?

From Middle English smilen (“to smile”), from Middle Low German *smîlen (“to smile”), from Middle High German smielen, from Old High German smielēn, from Proto-West Germanic *smīlēn, from Proto-Germanic *smīlāną (“to smile”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, be glad, wonder”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after smile