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Glite Dictionary
saucy smile

saucy smile

1 4.8
A playful look that shows confidence or teasing
  • noun
translation icon : sonrisa pícara
  • He greeted her with a saucy smile, full of playful confidence.

Examples

  • She smiled a saucy smile, the way she'd seen the other girls do countless times, and whirled around once, admiring herself.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • She smiled that saucy smile again—a hundred pounds ago, Beth thought, Penny must have been a looker.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • She flashed a saucy smile that made him blush.

  • With a saucy smile, she teased him about his new haircut.

Synonyms

roguish smile
vssaucy smile
5.3

A playful, slightly naughty smile that shows someone is teasing

is more openly flirtatious and confident rather than merely mischievous
roguish look
vssaucy smile
6.4

A look on the face that shows playful, slightly naughty charm

leans more toward flirtation and bold confidence than simple charm
sidey grin
vssaucy smile
  • Informal
8.9

A sly smile that shows someone knows a secret or wants to tease

is more clearly flirtatious and bold rather than secretly sly
smoochy-woochy glance
vssaucy smile
  • Informal
9.9

A short loving or flirty look that shows attraction

focuses on confident flirtation rather than tender romantic affection

How Saucy

saucy smile
1 4.8
warm smile
4 1.0

Surface Forms

saucy smile singular
saucy smiles plural

Morphology

saucy + smile

The meaning is directly compositional: 'saucy' (playfully cheeky or flirtatious) modifies 'smile' (a facial expression), yielding a playful/cheeky smile. This adjective + noun pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Saucy smile comes from the word saucy, which once meant 'full of sauce' or 'spicy' and so suggested bold or cheeky behaviour, together with smile. So, a saucy smile is a playful, confident or 'flirtatious' smile.