Sometimes it simply means that she just happened to make eye contact while thinking about her cat, her child, her partner, or even the delicious meal she's about to have and has nothing to do with you at all. There's no universal meaning to The Brief Female Smile.

Anonymous wrote:It means you are both HUMAN and she is politely acknowledging your existence.

That's about it.

That's it. No more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was in Alexandria on Saturday evening (leaving in the car) when a stunning tall brunette walked into the cross walk. I said “damn!” in disbelief not realizing she was already looking at me. She smiled and maintained eye contact as she walked by. Pulled off and she looked back over her shoulder. Told the wife we should have picked her up.

If my DH was so disrespectful of me I'd tell him to pack his bags.

Oh she’s not that boring....wife is bi and we are happy swingers.

Anonymous wrote:#overthinking

Exactly.

A smile is an act of courtesy, much like saying "Good morning" to people you see/meet. It's an effort to make the world a more pleasant place by acknowledging the person you encounter, even if briefly. Nowadays, too many people are locked in their own world or only know how to interact with people on their phones and it makes everyone more isolated and the world a colder place.

If she were interested in you, she would need to make a bigger effort to show it, like actually speaking up and saying something beyond normal pleasantries. Such comments as "Good morning." "Hello." "Have a nice day" and a smile are all general and mean she's being nice. None of them imply interest. She would need to say something not so generic to show interest.

#overthinking

JFC the anger and bitterness here is just crazy. It was a simple question. OP didn't ask if it the smile meant he was entitled to stalk her and demand sex. Not every male is so adept at understanding when women are interested in being approached and when they're not. And since men are basically required to be the ones to approach/initiate, wouldn't you rather they ask honest questions so you can help to solve the problem of unwanted attention, while enabling the "good" men to understand when you're actually interested?

Ultimately it's just really sad.

It means either that I’m being polite, or I’m thinking you may know me and I can’t place you and I don’t want to be rude.

Woman here. When walking if I make eye contact with you, it may mean nothing. If I smile when I see you, I’m interested. I don’t smile at strangers walking by unless I’m interested.

Anonymous wrote:Huh. I’m a straight woman and when I do this it DOES mean I think the guy is attractive in some way. If he started talking to me that would be nice.

I’m betting you at least have a longer amount of eye contact when it’s this situation.

Sometimes it means she's interested. Sometimes it means she's friendly. Sometimes it means she's discontented in her own marriage. Sometimes it means she's daydreaming. Sometimes it means you've got a leaf in your hair. Sometimes it means she's on autopilot and just going through the motions.

It doesn't ALWAYS mean anything in particular.

Anonymous wrote:Was in Alexandria on Saturday evening (leaving in the car) when a stunning tall brunette walked into the cross walk. I said “damn!” in disbelief not realizing she was already looking at me. She smiled and maintained eye contact as she walked by. Pulled off and she looked back over her shoulder. Told the wife we should have picked her up.

If my DH was so disrespectful of me I'd tell him to pack his bags.

It means she's being polite. Or possibly that your fly is down. Nothing more.

- a guy

I had a female coworker like that, nice, pleasant, etc. And so was I. One day she said she's just trying to be friendly since we work together, accusing me of "stalking" her. All I did was what she did - smile, "hi," "what's happening," etc. I mean we worked together off and on for 10 years. I had to tell her after all these years, I still don't know her name. (She has a long non-traditional name.) After this, we don't talk anymore.

She wants D!