smicker means elegant; fine; attractive, beautiful. It carries an Arena rating of 1770, earned across 74 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, smicker ranks #1,696 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,026 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,654 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #3,563 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
smicker is pronounced /ˈsmɪkə(ɹ)/.
Why “smicker” is a great word
SMICKER — [Adjective, Verb] As an adjective, it denotes elegance or beauty; as a verb, to look or smile amorously with seductive intent. From Middle English smiker, from Old English smicer, smicor (“beauteous, beautiful, elegant”), from Proto-West Germanic *smikr, from Proto-Germanic *smikraz (“fine, elegant, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *smēyg- (“small, delicate”). The verb’s suggestive sense is influenced by Scandinavian cognates like Swedish smickra (“to flatter”). Unlike smirk, which is a smug or silly grimace, or dapper, which is a neatness of tailoring, smicker entwines aesthetic fineness with a gaze of invitation. It is the archaic gleam of a polished scabbard, the deliberate glance across a candlelit hall, the knowing curve on a portrait’s lips—beauty made conspiratorial, a whispered question poised between allure and loss.
Etymology
From Middle English smiker, from Old English smicer, smicor (“beauteous, beautiful, elegant, fair, fine, neat, tasteful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smikr, from Proto-Germanic *smikraz (“fine, elegant, delicate, tender”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to smear, stroke, wipe, rub”). Cognate with Middle High German smecker (“neat, elegant”), Ancient Greek σμικρός (smikrós), μικρός (mikrós, “small, short”), Lithuanian smeigti (“to lunge, thrust, jab”), Latin mīca (“crumb, morsel, bit”). For the verb, compare Swedish smickra (“to flatter, coax, wheedle, butter up”), Danish smigre (“to flatter”).
adj
- Elegant; fine; attractive, beautiful.e.g.“No, his deep-reaching spirit could not brook
The fond addiction to such vanity;
Regardful of his honour he forsook
The smicker use of court-humanity.” — 1606, John Ford, Fame's Memorial:
- Amorous; wanton.
- Handsome; spruce; smart, dapper.e.g.“A smicker boy, a lither swain,
Heigh ho, a smicker swain,
That his love was wanton fain, […]” — 1590, Thomas Lodge, “Corydon’s Song”, in Rosalynde:
verb
- To look amorously or wantonly.e.g.“[…] Maskall, must you be smickering after wenches, while I am in calamity?” — 1808, original 1668, John Dryden, Walter Scott, An Evening's Love:
- To look or smile seductively or amorously.
- To laugh or smile in a sniggering or leering way; smirk.e.g.“I gave him a questioning look and he hurled a pillow at me. “Who you a look pon^([sic]) so?” “Me baby father” He smickered.” — 2014, Crystal Evans, Every Man Deserves A Good Jacket, page 116:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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