9 Different Types Of Smile

People gives each smile using a combination of a slightly different muscles and conveying different messages. Here are the 5 most common types smile and their interpretation. This is a feel that comes out when you’re meeting someone. This is the only weapon, that has the power to make you feel warm and comfortable, the fuel behind the conversation. With just a smile you can ignite a host of emotions and interactions. Here we are listing the different types of smiles.

The hidden meanings of a smile
But did you know if the full-blown smile is accompanied by the person’s head going slightly in, it means he / she is humble? And if the person is smiling broadly and the head has a backward tilt, the person is both pleased and proud? These small gestures might escape the regular person, but when you’re aware of the underlying mechanics, you’ll realise how easy it actually is to read a person’s smile clearly.

The Tight-Lipped Smile

When people smile genuinely the lips broadens and there is always a display of teeth. It is an involuntary muscle reflex hardwired into our brains. A person smiling with the lips stretched but without the teeth exposed indicates that he or she is concealing something.

A tight lipped smile is used for masking true emotions and can be an expression of fear, shyness, anger or restraining of thoughts and attitude. It is the type of smile you are most likely to use when meeting new people and greeting strangers.

Full-blown smile

The full-blown smile is the most natural of all, where you’d unconsciously open up your mouth into a silent laugh. The muscles around your eyes crease and crinkle as the teeth are displayed, with the sides of your lips stretching towards the tip of your ears. It’s that look you see on a little girl’s face when she’s just been given a large pink lollipop.

Everyone likes seeing that full-blown smile as it signifies happiness from the bottom of the heart.

The Smug Smile

You know that smile of self satisfaction that your douchebag friend gives you when he boasts of landing a date with hot chick at bar; that’s the type of smile you would call “The Smug Smile”.

A smug smile is an expression of self satisfaction, arrogance, ridicule and a careless attitude. It is the kind of expression that makes you wanna say “Wipe that stupid grin off your face.” But interestingly the smug smile can also be sign of humor and playfulness – a way to catch somebody’s attention.

The Turn-Away Smile

Another extension of this technique to win over people quickly is the turn-away smile – as the individual also comes across as juvenile, playful and creative. It is actually a hybrid expression where the smile signals welcome, whereas the motion of turning away gives the signal of avoidance.

To illustrate, most men cannot resist if a women smiles coyly in their directions. Also, when a female gives the turn-away smile, it invokes parental male feelings, making men want to protect and care for the female.

Some actresses are quite adept at using this technique to captivate the hearts of fans. And as many public speakers have realised, the turn-away smile also makes you seem younger and attractively secretive. Even renowned biologist Charles Darwin had noted how well the turn-away smile invokes similar reactions in animals.

The Closed-Lip Smile

When the teeth aren’t displayed, this is known as the closed-lip smile. Playful children and politicians always show this gesture, which gives signal that the person is hiding something.

If your friend gives you the closed-lip smile, the clear message is that although your friend is happy chatting with you, he is not telling you everything. He reserves some information that he does not feel comfortable sharing with you.

The Forced Smile

A forced smile looks manufactured and unnatural. We need more than pulled-back lips, through the use of a muscle called risorius to show our teeth, to convince someone we are happy and exuding a positive emotion.

This can be detected especially when eyes are not engaged with mouth – resulting in the eyes looking dull or listless. The fake smile gives the impression that we do not mean what we are saying – and it evokes a response of dislike or will damage social bonding.

The Genuine Smile

A genuine smile appears only when is a person is truly amused (think of the last time you smiled at a good joke). It is an expression of joy and pleasure. It is an honest smile and cannot be easily faked since the muscles in our face are out of our conscious control.

A genuine smile appears primarily because of the action of two muscles – the zygomaticus major, which stretches from the corner of the mouth to the cheekbone, and the orbicularis oculi ( the skin around the eyes). You can spot a genuine smile when the skin around the eyes crinkles up along with the stretching of the lips and a display of the teeth.

Flirtatious Smile

It’s a light smile, very similar to the “half smile” we mentioned earlier. It’s attractive because it shows enigmatic features. It’s especially attractive in females because it’s as if saying “I like what I see, but you’ll have to work harder”. it’s often a sort of invitation for more interaction.Biting the lips or licking them while smiling enhances the size and fullness of the lips and makes the smile appear more sexy and playful.

The Sneer

The action for the sneer is caused when the buccinators muscles (on the sides of the face) contract to draw the lip corners sideward toward the ears and produce a sneering dimple in the check. The expression is obvious and gives clear sarcastic signals.

The sneer is an act of contempt, it shows someone being disrespectful and reflects the lack of caring and empathy on the part of the person doing the sneering. During police interviews, for example, the suspect would sneer upon realising the police didn’t know the full details of the crime.