Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗verb
To fawn, to be unctuous. · To address in a fawning and unctuous manner.
noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventorySmarmy language or behavior. · A style of fan fiction in which characters are warm and caring toward each other but without sexual overtones.
The noun is attested since 1914, from the colloquial verb smalm, smarm (“to smear, bedaub (hair, with pomade)”), attested since 1847, of unknown origin, perhaps somehow suggestive of the action. Verbal meaning "to smear with flattery" is from 1902.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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