smart
UK /smɑːt/ · US /smɑɹt/ verb, adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms smarts smarting smarted smarter smartest smort smorten
- verb (intransitive) To hurt or sting. “After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed "Ouch, my arm smarts!"”
- verb (transitive) To cause a smart or sting in.
- verb (intransitive) To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.
- adjective Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.
- adjective (informal) Exhibiting intellectual knowledge, such as that found in books.
- adjective (often in combination) Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology). “smart car”
- adjective Good-looking; well dressed; fine; fashionable. “a smart outfit”
- adjective Cleverly shrewd and humorous in a way that may be rude and disrespectful. “He became tired of his girlfriend's smart remarks.”
- adjective Sudden and intense.
- adjective Causing sharp pain; stinging.
- adjective Sharp; keen; poignant. “a smart pain”
- noun A sharp, quick, lively pain; a sting.
- noun Mental pain or suffering; grief; affliction.
- noun (slang, dated) A dandy; one who is smart in dress; one who is brisk, vivacious, or clever.
- noun (professional wrestling) A fan of professional wrestling who is aware of kayfabe and the scripted nature of the competition.
- adjective (mnemonic) An acronym for remembering desirable characteristics for goal-setting: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timebound. (See SMART criteria on Wikipedia.Wikipedia)
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
bright capable sophisticated witty astute brainy brilliant clever educated genius gifted hivey ingenious intellectual intelligent keen knowledgeable piquant quick quick on the uptake smarting smartness ache hurt chic voguish fresh impertinent impudent overbold
Antonyms
backward banal boorish dull inept ignorant uncultivated simple dumb garish outré tacky stupid
Etymology
From Middle English smerten, from Old English *smeortan (“to smart”), from Proto-West Germanic *smertan, from Proto-Germanic *smertaną (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.
From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smart, from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).
From Middle English smerte, from smerten (“to smart”); see above. Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smart, Low German smart, German Schmerz, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta. More above.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To feel a lively, pungent local pain; --said of some part of the body as the seat of irritation; as, my finger smarts; these wounds smart. Chaucer. Shak.
- verb To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to suffer; to feel the sting of evil.
- verb To cause a smart in. "A goad that . . . smarts the flesh." T. Adams.
- noun Quick, pungent, lively pain; a pricking local pain, as the pain from puncture by nettles. "In pain's smart." Chaucer.
Etymology [OE. smarten, AS. smeortan; akin to D. smarten, smerten, G. schmerzen, OHG. smerzan, Dan. smerte, SW. smärta, D. smart, smert, a pain, G. schmerz, Ohg. smerzo, and probably to L. mordere to bite; cf. Gr. m to rub, crush. Cf. Morsel.]
Etymology [OE. smerte. See Smart, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “smart”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details