The first time I ever heard this word used was in an analogy. Without getting into the irrelevancies of why the person was discussing the particular subject, I merely include it, here:

….Ever flush an unusually smarmy turd, only to have it pop back up again after the flush was over…?

I have since heard it used as an adjective for various things, but never specifically pertaining to a manner of speech, which Princeton Wordnet sets forth as the appropriate meaning–

# S: (adj) buttery, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, smarmy, soapy, unctuous (unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech) “buttery praise”; “gave him a fulsome introduction”; “an oily sycophantic press agent”; “oleaginous hypocrisy”; “smarmy self-importance”; “the unctuous Uriah Heep”; “soapy compliments.”

I find this definition limiting for a word with an obscure etymology, and which is a relative newcomer to the English Language (as the following article discusses) and which has the words “oily,”  “unctuous,”  and “oleaginous” as synonyms.

Personally, I can’t think of a better definition than the one offered by The Word Detective website:

Smarmy: Slathered with creepiness.

Read more about it, here.

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