微笑ほほえむ

ほ

え

む

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

微笑む · godan verb (-mu)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	微笑ほほえむ	微笑ほほえまない
Polite	微笑ほほえみます	微笑ほほえみません
Past polite	微笑ほほえみました	微笑ほほえみませんでした
Past	微笑ほほえんだ	微笑ほほえまなかった
Te-form	微笑ほほえんで	微笑ほほえまないで
Desire	微笑ほほえみたい	微笑ほほえみたくない
Potential	微笑ほほえめる	微笑ほほえめない
Passive	微笑ほほえまれる	微笑ほほえまれない
Causative	微笑ほほえませる	微笑ほほえませない
Causative passive	微笑ほほえませられるalso 微笑ほほえまされる	微笑ほほえませられないalso 微笑ほほえまされない
Volitional	微笑ほほえもう
Polite volitional	微笑ほほえみましょう
Imperative	微笑ほほえめ	微笑ほほえむな
Conditional	微笑ほほえめば	微笑ほほえまなければ
Tara conditional	微笑ほほえんだら	微笑ほほえまなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-mu), intransitive verb

A gentle, soft smile, often with the mouth closed. Used for warm, quiet, or slightly emotional smiles.

〈人ひと〉〉に微笑ほほえむto smile at someone
彼かの女じょは私わたしに優やさしく微笑ほほえんだ。
She smiled gently at me.
〈人ひと〉〉を見みて微笑ほほえむto smile upon seeing someone
母ははは子こ供どもを見みて微笑ほほえんだ。
The mother smiled when she saw her child.
にっこり微笑ほほえむto give a broad, warm smile
彼かれはにっこり微笑ほほえんで手てを振ふった。
He smiled broadly and waved.
静しずかに微笑ほほえむto smile quietly
彼かの女じょは何なにも言いわず、静しずかに微笑ほほえんだ。
She said nothing and just smiled quietly.

笑わらうN4
笑う covers laughing or smiling broadly and can involve sound or a wide grin, while 微笑む refers specifically to a soft, quiet smile.
ニコニコN3
にこにこ is an adverb for a cheerful, beaming smile, whereas 微笑む describes a gentler, quieter smile.
微笑ほほえみかけるN2
微笑む just means 'to smile' without a target, while 微笑みかける adds the sense of directing that smile at a specific person.
微び笑しょうN1
微笑む is the native Japanese verb meaning 'to smile', while 微笑 is the Sino-Japanese noun/する-verb form used in more formal or written contexts.

Show 2 more

笑わらいかけるN2
微笑む describes a soft, quiet smile that may have no particular target, whereas 笑いかける emphasizes intentionally directing the smile at someone.
ほころびるN1
微笑む is a deliberate, controlled smile, whereas 綻びる (as in 顔が綻びる) describes an involuntary softening of the face into a smile.

微笑ほほえましい
微笑ましい is an い-adjective describing something that makes others smile, while 微笑む is a verb meaning to smile oneself.

微笑むUsage63%
- ほほえむ
  Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
- ほおえむ
ほほえむUsage28%
Kana spelling; common in informal writing or when the kanji is not needed.
ほほ笑えむUsage8%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kanji form; not used in normal writing.
ほおえむUsage<1%
頬笑むUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
- ほほえむ
  Rarely used kanji form; 微笑む is strongly preferred.
- ほおえむ

Formed from 頬, “cheek,” and 笑む, “smile.” The older compound 頬笑む yielded the modern reading ほほえむ.