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愛想笑い (あいそわらい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

愛あい想そ笑わらい

あ

い

そ

わ

ら

い

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

insincere smile; forced smile; polite smile

A smile put on for social purposes, often lacking genuine warmth. Can be used as a noun or with する to mean 'to give a fake/forced smile'.

彼かの女じょは愛あい想そ笑わらいを浮うかべた。
She put on a forced smile.
上じょう司しの冗じょう談だんに愛あい想

そ

笑わら

い

を

する

。

I give a polite smile at my boss's joke.

Written forms

愛想笑い
- あいそわらい
  Standard kanji spelling. The reading あいそわらい is the most common.
- あいそうわらい
あいそうわらい

Kanji

愛love, affection, favourite
想idea, thought, conception
笑laugh

Similar words

作つくり笑わらい
作り笑い also means a fake or forced smile, but it emphasizes the artificial, manufactured aspect. 愛想笑い focuses more on the social, ingratiating function.
愛あい想そ
愛想 means sociability, amiability, or charm. 愛想笑い is a smile that displays such social grace, often insincerely.

Etymology

Compound of 愛想 (aiso, 'amiability, sociability') + 笑い (warai, 'smile, laugh'). The reading あいそうわらい is a less common variant with the older あいそう form of 愛想.