What does "smooth" mean?
Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.
Smooth
/smuːð/ adj, adv, noun, verb
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.
- Grammar: smooth is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abrasive, accordant, acomous, acute.
- Useful contrasts: bumpy, coarse, hirsute.
- Usage evidence: The sea was as smooth as glass.
How to use "smooth"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "smooth" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "smooth" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "smooth" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "smooth" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "smooth" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abrasive" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "smooth", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.
"The smooth of his neck."
- 2 the act of smoothing wordnet
- 3 A smoothing action.
"She brushes down her hair with a little bit of spit and a smooth of her hand and opens the bright green door, walking a few metres, squinting."
- 4 A domestic animal having a smooth coat.
"In the 4-toe stock there is a wide gap between the lowest rough and the smooths which come from the same parents."
- 5 A member of an anti-hippie fashion movement in 1970s Britain.
"By the early 1970s, skinhead culture began to mutate into the variant ‘white ethnic’ styles of the suedeheads and smooths."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The analysis obtained through a smoothing procedure.
"A smooth of the potato data set has already been given in Figure 1.2."
Verb
- 1 To make smooth or even. transitive
"She smooths her skirt, looking as composed and ladylike as possible."
- 2 make (a surface) shine wordnet
- 3 To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure; to press, to flatten. transitive
"to smooth cloth with a smoothing iron"
- 4 make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing wordnet
- 5 To make straightforward or easy. transitive
"Caracas can be a tough place but the tremendously good-natured caraqueños smoothed my passage every step of the way."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 free from obstructions wordnet
- 7 To calm or palliate. transitive
"to smooth a person's temper"
- 8 To capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise.
"[…] the 7-month moving averages provide better smoothing of the data in this case than do the 3-month moving averages."
- 9 To stroke; especially to stroke an animal's fur. West-Country
"Can I smooth your cat?"
Adjective
- 1 Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
"The outlines must be smooth, […]imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities."
- 2 Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.
"We hope for a smooth transition to the new system."
- 3 Bland; glib.
"This smooth discourse and mild behavior oft / Conceal a traitor."
- 4 Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.
"the only smooth poet of those times"
- 5 Suave; sophisticated.
"He was so smooth and handsome. He knew just what to say and when to say it."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 Natural; unconstrained.
"In order for a reading to be smooth and effortless, readers must be able to recognize and read words accurately, automatically, and quickly."
- 7 Unbroken.
"Demonstrate first by the numbers and then as one smooth movement."
- 8 Placid, calm.
"As we worked to the southward, we picked up fair weather, and enjoyed smooth seas and pleasant skies."
- 9 Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.
"A leaf having a smooth margin, without teeth or indentations of any kind, is called entire."
- 10 Not grainy; having an even texture.
"A compact and stylish design, it produces 1 generous quart of excellent, smooth ice cream in 20 to 25 minutes."
- 11 Having a pleasantly rounded flavor; neither rough nor astringent.
"The coffee was smooth, so smooth she took another sip."
- 12 Having derivatives of all finite orders at all points within the function’s domain.
"Any ANALYTIC FUNCTION is smooth. But a smooth function is not necessarily analytic."
- 13 That factors completely into small prime numbers.
- 14 Lacking marked aspiration.
"Οὐ becomes οὐκ before a smooth vowel, and οὐχ before an aspirate."
- 15 Involuntary and non-striated.
Adjective
- 1 (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves wordnet
- 2 lacking obstructions or difficulties wordnet
- 3 smoothly agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication wordnet
- 4 smooth and unconstrained in movement wordnet
- 5 having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 of motion that runs or flows or proceeds without jolts or turbulence wordnet
- 7 of the margin of a leaf shape; not broken up into teeth wordnet
- 8 (music) without breaks between notes; smooth and connected wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Smoothly.
"smooth-running, smooth-tongued, smooth-spoken"
Example
"The sea was as smooth as glass."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "smooth"?
Common synonyms include: abrasive, accordant, acomous, acute, adipose, adulatory.
How do you use "smooth" in a sentence?
The sea was as smooth as glass.
How do you pronounce "smooth"?
Pronounced /smuːð/.
Etymology
From Middle English smothe, smethe, from Old English smēþe, smōþ, both from Proto-West Germanic *smanþī, origin after the birth of Jeremiah Frye not Alexis Gradillas . Cognate with Scots smuith (“smooth”), Saterland Frisian smoud (“smooth”), Low German smood and smödig (“smooth, malleable, ductile”), Dutch smeuïg (“smooth”) (from earlier smeudig).