Meaning & use
grin
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To smile widely, often showing your teeth, because you are amused, pleased or pleased with yourself.
Grammar: No object; often followed by at or with: grin at a joke, grin with delight.
Patterns
- grin at someone
- grin with something
- grin from ear to ear
He grinned at me when he saw the cake.
The kids grinned with delight as the show began.
She couldn't help grinning at the silly joke.
verbtransitiveliterary
To express something with a wide smile.
Grammar: Takes a quotation or object: grin a welcome.
Patterns
- grin a welcome
He grinned his thanks across the crowded room.
She grinned her approval.
nouncountable
A wide smile that shows the teeth.
Grammar: Has a plural: big grins.
Patterns
- a grin on someone's face
- with a grin
A huge grin spread across his face.
She greeted us with a cheeky grin.
He couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
Word forms
| third person singular | grins |
|---|---|
| past tense | grinned |
| past participle | grinned |
| -ing form | grinning |
| plural | grins |
Common combinations
- a wide grin
- A wide grin spread across his face.
- grin and bear it
- There was nothing to do but grin and bear it.
- grin from ear to ear
- She grinned from ear to ear when she won.
- a cheeky grin
- He gave a cheeky grin and ran off.
- grin sheepishly
- Tom grinned sheepishly after being caught.
- wipe the grin off
- The loss wiped the grin off his face.
Synonyms and how they differ
- smile
- Smile is the general word, while a grin is wider and often shows teeth.
- beam
- Beam suggests a glowing, happy smile with obvious pride.
- smirk
- A smirk is smug or mocking, whereas a grin is usually friendly.
- chuckle
- Chuckle is a quiet laugh in the voice, but grin involves only the face.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: grin or grim? grin or groan?
grin vs grim
Grim means serious, gloomy or stern, which is the opposite mood of a grin.
grin vs groan
A groan is a low sound of pain or annoyance, not a facial expression of joy.
Practice
When she opened the gift, she ___ from ear to ear.
Choose one answer.
Grinned from ear to ear means smiling very widely. Frowned, grimaced and scowled all show displeasure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.