smile apologetically; force a smile to appease
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to smile apologetically; to force a smile to appease someone
neutralUsed when someone tries to ease tension, smooth over a mistake, or please someone they have offended, often implying the smile is not genuine but forced out of necessity. The variant '赔笑脸' is more common in speech.
Tā他
zhī知
dào道
zì自
jǐ己
cuò错
le了
，
gǎn赶
jǐn紧
xiàng向
jīng经
lǐ理
péi赔
xiào笑
。
Knowing he was wrong, he quickly smiled apologetically at the manager.
Gù顾
kè客
hěn很
shēng生
qì气
，
fú服
wù务
yuán员
zhǐ只
néng能
zài在
yī一
páng旁
bù不
tíng停
péi赔
xiào笑
liǎn脸
。
The customer was very angry, so the waiter could only stand by and force smiles continuously.
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Wèi为
le了
qiān签
xià下
zhè这
ge个
hé合
tong同
，
tā他
bù不
dé得
bù不
xiàng向
duì对
fāng方
lǎo老
bǎn板
péi赔
xiào笑
shuō说
hǎo好
huà话
。
To secure this contract, he had no choice but to smile apologetically and say nice things to the other party's boss.