Smitten
adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 past participle of smite. form-of, participle, past
- 1 Affected by an act of smiting.
"[A] smited man is a man struck; a smitten man is a man affected by the act of smiting: […]"
- 2 Affected by an act of smiting.; Made irrationally enthusiastic.
"There is not, I am persuaded, an individual of the many Nature-smitten enthusiasts who yearly visit the wild glens of Kincardineshire, that would not walk barefoot a hundred miles to kneel at the tomb of him who founded the beautifully-situated village of Balrangle."
- 3 Affected by an act of smiting.; In love.
"At the end of the long procession came a smitten woman. […] I think of the women who have fastened the tendrils of their heart's affection round unworthy men, and have married them, hoping, trusting and believing that their love and influence would be powerful enough to win the men to sobriety and virtue. Alas! how mistaken they have been!"
- 1 (used in combination) affected by something overwhelming wordnet
- 2 marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness wordnet
Example
More examples"I was at a musical recently, in the third row. Seeing the actor I love up close like that made me feel more smitten with him than ever."
Etymology
From Middle English smiten, from Old English smiten, ġesmiten, from Proto-Germanic *smitanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to hurl; fling”), equivalent to smite + -en (past participle ending).
Related phrases
More for "smitten"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.