What Does Your Smile Say About You?

Written by , MA (Journalism & Mass Communication) Chaitra Krishnan MA (Journalism & Mass Communication) Experience: 5 years
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One of the most beautiful things about human beings is their smile. Be it showing a perfectly aligned set of teeth, big yellow crooked ones, or even a toothless gummy smile, they’re all beautiful. Just like the way you walk or talk, the way you smile can also say a lot about you. Haven’t you ever noticed the increase in the number of smiles you give out when you’re happy, or in love? And it’s not just the number of times you smile in a day, it’s also the way you smile and the people around who you smile. A warm genuine smile says that you’re friendly and approachable. We all liked our funny uncle more than the grumpy one who smiled once in a blue moon. Also, a great, confident smile garners you a good first impression at interviews or on your first day at work.

Handling difficult situations with a smile makes people believe that you’re a strong person and it gives out a very positive vibe. People who smile often are charming and attractive than those you maintain a reserved and straight face all the time. Want to know what different types of smiles say about you? Read on.

1. The Closed-lip Smile

1. The Closed-lip Smile
Image: Shutterstock

The name says it all about this type of smile. If you’re a person who smiles like this a lot, it means that you’re hiding something. You’re very cautious about your expressions and words when you smile at someone this way.

2. The Lop-sided Smile

2. The Lop-sided Smile
Image: IStock

Ah, who doesn’t love Natalie Dormer’s lop-sided smile? Lop-sided smiles look very attractive to some people but at the same time, they can mean that you’re having mixed emotions. If your lop-sided smile often points downwards, you may be bothered by something. But if it points upwards, you’re fine.

3. The Forced Smile

3. The Forced Smile
Image: IStock

Remember the way you smile when your relatives pass comments on your education, love life, or career? Yep, that’s the one — the forced smile. It’s like you really don’t want to smile, but you kinda have to.

4. The Genuine Smile

4. The Genuine Smile
Image: Shutterstock

If you smile genuinely at people with your teeth shown or without, it means that you’re a happy and confident person. This is the way most of us smile when we’re just fine and not carrying any extravagant emotions with us.

5. The Smirk

5. The Smirk
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Smirks are the antagonists in the smile world. You smirk at someone when you’re too confident about yourself and you undermine the person in front of you. It’s sort of an evil, insulting way of expressing the way you feel about someone or something.

6. The Nervous Smile

6. The Nervous Smile
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Back in your school days, this was the way you smiled at your friend after seeing the question paper in the exam hall. If you keep smiling at everyone this way, this means that you’re nervous about something and you’re anticipating too much.

7. The Painful Smile

7. The Painful Smile
Image: Shutterstock

Not all smiles are happy because there are sad smiles too. If you’re upset but you don’t want others to know that you are, you’ll probably try to fake a smile and that’s exactly what a painful smile is. It’s a forced smile that you wear when you’re in pain. Even though your lips smile, your eyes and rest of the face will clearly show that you aren’t.

8. The Flirty Smile

8. The Flirty Smile
Image: IStock

The flirty smile says that you’re attracted to the person you’re with. This smile can be charming, attractive, and very inviting. Some people bite their lip or lick them to add on to the intensity of this smile.

9. The Open Mouth Smile

9. The Open Mouth Smile
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If you’re smiling with your mouth open, that means you’re surprised big time! This is the way you smile when you walk into a room filled with balloons on your birthday.

10. The Proud Smile

10. The Proud Smile
Image: Shutterstock

If you raise your chin a bit when you smile, that means you’re proud. You can be proud of yourself, or the people around you, or about anything else. A proud smile often comes with a huge amount of confidence. If you’re walking into a room with a proud smile, it means that you’re a confident person.

11. The Helpless Smile

11. The Helpless Smile
Image: Shutterstock

You know that smile you give when you tell someone “Sorry, I can’t help you here” without actually telling them. You lift up your shoulders and your eyebrows when you smile this way. If you smile this way very often, you may not be a very helpful person.

12. The Blushing Smile

12. The Blushing Smile
Image: Shutterstock

If you’re blushing and smiling very often, you’re probably in love or you have a crush on someone who’s around you. It can also mean that you’re a very shy person and that social interactions make you blush.

Smiles are not as simple as we think they are. In fact, a lot of research has been done in this area to understand the relationship between the act of smiling and the emotional condition of a person. Which smile from the above list do you wear most of the times? Do you think it says a lot about you? Let us know in the comments section below.

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