Definition
A broad smile indicating self-awareness that may suggest self-satisfaction, smugness, discomfort, or embarrassment.
Origins
Possibly from a contraction of "grinning like a ’possum eating shit" (compare also happy as a pig in shit); later detached from meaning and persisting due to its vividness (cf. "there are many ways to skin a cat" or "happy as a clam").
In Context
- "Near-synonym: smirk"
- "He was at the wheel of his brand-new 1965 GTO, top down, wearing a super-sized shit-eating grin on his face. "
Also Said As
- coprophagous grin
- fish-eating grin
- simper
- smirk
See Also
- shiteater