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Smarmy
//ˈsmɑː.mi// adj
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Falsely earnest, smug, ingratiating, or pious.
"a smarmy salesman with a big smile"
- 2 Unctuous, greasy, as hair from pomade. dated, rare
"He looked faintly loutish, with smarmy hair and a hint of a moustache."
Adjective
- 1 unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech wordnet
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.
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