noun
A gentle, warm smile; often implies a soft, affectionate expression rather than a broad grin.
彼女の微笑みに心が和んだ。
Her smile put me at ease.
赤ちゃんの無邪気な微笑みを見ると幸せな気持ちになる。
Seeing a baby's innocent smile makes me feel happy.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; less common but still encountered.
Rarely used kanji form.
Compound of 微 (bi, 'faint, slight') and 笑み (emi, 'smile'). The reading ほほえみ is a native Japanese word, with ほほ likely related to 頬 (hoho, 'cheek').