So as the title indicates, I'm wondering about exactly what is the difference
between all the existing words that mean "smile", I originally learned only
笑い, which I feel is the most regularly used one (although it can also means a
laugh), but as I'm learning I started coming across at least ten other word
that are all translated in english as smile, and so I wondered where exactly
was the difference. These are the following words I've encountered (besides
warai) :

  * 笑み 
  * 笑顔 
  * 微笑み 
  * 微笑
  * にっこり 
  * 一笑
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2016-07-29T19:45:05.427
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question
meaning word-choice words nuances wago-and-kango
Nuances in the word "smile"
Yeah this is funny concept in Japanese because the most common word used to
refer to the smile is 笑顔 which doesn't refer to the just the smile itself but
rather the smiling face taken as a whole. The actual smile itself I believe is
referred to as 微笑み though it's not nearly as common. にっこり is more of an
adjective used to describe someones behavior - like for example you walk into
a room and someone you know has this oddly suspicious smile on their face and
you ask them "what the hell are you so smiley about?". 笑い is more like the act
of laughing than just smiling.

The main concept though is that whole smiling face is usually the thing that
is referred to.
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2016-07-29T20:25:25.963
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2016-07-29T20:25:25.963
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answer
They are, in Japanese term, all subcategories of 笑い, the widest word that
covers both loud _laugh_ ( _giggle_ , _chuckle_ etc.) and silent _smile_ (
_grin_ , _smirk_ , _simper_ etc.)

**笑み/笑顔**

The two words are related to every kind of silent happy face (abovementioned).
笑み is the action itself (< verb 笑む), but is a bookish word that hardly appears
in conversation. 笑顔 is more popularly used one that refers to the face (or
expression), and we usually call making smile 笑顔を作る.

**微笑【ほほえ】み/微笑【びしょう】**

Literally "dim happy face", may be the most exact words correspond to English
_smile_. However, these are a bit more nuanced than the English counterpart
where they're associated with affection, dearness or benevolence, that don't
fit every situation we could use _smile_. The most typical usage would be
天使の微笑み "angel's smile".

微笑【びしょう】 is the Sino-Japanese synonym of 微笑【ほほえ】み, thus sounds loftier. Note
that the last okurigana of 微笑み isn't obligatory, so sometimes you'll see 微笑 is
read ほほえみ too.

**一笑**

This is somewhat an odd one out, and has most limited range of usage. It has
two meanings: _making a friendly happy face lightly/briefly_ as in 破顔一笑
"(break into) a broad smile"; and _laugh something down/off_ as in 一笑に付す. Both
are often seen in literary works.

**にっこり**

This is a mimetic word depicts such a sunny smile:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/juk06.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/juk06.png)

for this kind of evil smile, we use **にやにや** or **にやける** (verb), which is
frequently heard in anime when girls rebuke guys that have dirty mind.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZE0pT.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZE0pT.png)

and for big grin, we prefer **にんまり**.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NmHY.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NmHY.jpg)

* * *

**BONUS**  
We also use English loanword **スマイル** , usually for the cheerful smile or grin
which Americans are particularly good at.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t6ziD.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t6ziD.jpg)

(for illustrative purposes only)
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2016-07-30T17:23:20.280
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answer