0%

smarts

smart
S s

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [smahrt]
    • /smɑrt/
    • /smɑːts/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [smahrt]
    • /smɑrt/

Definitions of smarts word

  • verb without object smarts to be a source of sharp, local, and usually superficial pain, as a wound. 1
  • verb without object smarts to be the cause of a sharp, stinging pain, as an irritating application, a blow, etc. 1
  • verb without object smarts to feel a sharp, stinging pain, as in a wound. 1
  • verb without object smarts to suffer keenly from wounded feelings: She smarted under their criticism. 1
  • verb without object smarts to feel shame or remorse or to suffer in punishment or in return for something. 1
  • verb with object smarts to cause a sharp pain to or in. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of smarts

First appearance:

before 1050
One of the 6% oldest English words
before 1050; (v.) Middle English smerten, Old English -smeortan (only in the compound fyrsmeortende painful like fire), cognate with Old High German smerzan (German schmerzen); (adj.) Middle English smerte, smart quick, prompt, sharp, orig., biting, smarting, late Old English smearte, akin to the v.; (adv. and noun) Middle English smerte, derivative of the adj.

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Smarts

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

smarts popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

smarts usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for smarts

noun smarts

  • acuities — sharpness; acuteness; keenness: acuity of vision; acuity of mind.
  • acuity — Acuity is sharpness of vision or hearing, or quickness of thought.
  • acumen — keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing with a situation; shrewdness
  • aptitude — Someone's aptitude for a particular kind of work or activity is their ability to learn it quickly and to do it well.
  • aptness — inclined; disposed; given; prone: too apt to slander others.

adj smarts

  • cunning — Someone who is cunning has the ability to achieve things in a clever way, often by deceiving other people.

verb smarts

  • aches — Plural form of ache.
  • fricassees — Plural form of fricassee.
  • hurts — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of hurt.

adjective smarts

  • acutes — sharp or severe in effect; intense: acute sorrow; an acute pain.
  • bandboxes — Plural form of bandbox.
  • chippers — to chirp or twitter.
  • crisps — very thin slices of potato fried and eaten cold as a snack
  • doggies — Plural form of doggie.

Antonyms for smarts

adjective smarts

  • cornballs — Plural form of cornball.
  • crazies — mentally deranged; demented; insane.
  • cursives — Plural form of cursive.
  • darks — Plural form of dark.
  • draggers — Plural form of dragger.

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?