Showing Results for "smitten"

See Also:

• past participle of smite.

smitten

American  

[smit-n] / ˈsmɪt n /

adjective

1. overwhelmed with attraction or affection toward someone or something.

2. struck, such as with a hard blow.

3. grievously or disastrously stricken or afflicted.

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verb

1. a past participle of smite.

smitten British  

/ ˈsmɪtən /

verb

1. a past participle of smite

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adjective

1. (postpositive) affected by love (for)

Usage

What does smitten mean? Smitten is most popularly used to mean deeply in love. It can also mean infatuated due to being extremely impressed or fond of someone or something, as in I’m just smitten with your new hairstyle or She’s smitten with her new granddaughter. Another way to say any of these things is in love. In a more negative sense, smitten can mean severely or intensely affected or afflicted, such as by illness. All of these senses derive from the fact that smitten is the past participle of the verb smite, which means to strike, damage, injure, attack, or afflict. While smite is often associated with archaic uses (such as its use in the King James Bible to refer to the wrath of God), most senses of the word smitten don’t have this association. Example: I can tell just by the look in your eyes that you’re smitten. What’s his name?

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unsmitten
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of smitten

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; equivalent to smite + -en ³

Explanation

Smitten means overwhelmed or struck by something, usually love. The way you light up every time the waiter comes over to your table, it’s obvious you’re smitten with him. Smitten is related to the verb smite, which comes from the Old English smitan, meaning “to hit, strike, beat.” What do hitting and beating have to do with love, you may ask? Well, when some people fall in love they report feeling as though they've been "struck by lightning." Obviously those people have never actually been struck by lightning, because when you're struck by lightning you don't start saying things like, "Oh, you like the beach? Brad loves the beach!" and, "You have a cat? So does Brad!"

Example Sentences

“We actually ended up baking six massive batches of shortbread from Smitten Kitchen and then we shipped them in their little tin boxes to everybody,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2023

Deb Perelman, the best-selling cookbook author and creator of Smitten Kitchen, tends to focus her social media posts on her work, like pasta or chocolate chip cookie recipes.

From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2023

Perelman began her Smitten Kitchen cooking site in 2006, and in the years since, she has amassed a loyal fan base with her comforting, straightforward cooking.

From Washington Post • Jan. 10, 2023

I don’t own “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook” or “Smitten Kitchen Every Day,” but this one is definitely a keeper.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 6, 2022

Smitten by the steel, here they lie; and smitten by the steel174 there await them—one may perchance ask what?—the inheritance of the tombs of their fathers.

From Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes by Buckley, Theodore Alois