smooth
Americanadjective
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smoother,
comparative
-
smoothest
superlative
-
free from projections or unevenness of surface; not rough.
smooth wood; a smooth road.
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generally flat or unruffled, as a calm sea.
-
free from hairs or a hairy growth.
a smooth cheek.
-
of uniform consistency; free from lumps, as a batter, sauce, etc.
-
free from or proceeding without abrupt curves, bends, etc..
a smooth ride.
-
allowing or having an even, uninterrupted movement or flow.
smooth driving.
-
easy and uniform, as motion or the working of a machine.
-
having projections worn away.
a smooth tire casing.
-
free from hindrances or difficulties.
a smooth day at the office.
-
noting a metal file having the minimum commercial grade of coarseness for a single-cut file.
-
undisturbed, tranquil, or equable, as the feelings, temper, etc.; serene.
a smooth disposition.
-
elegant, easy, or polished.
smooth manners.
-
ingratiatingly polite or suave.
That salesman is a smooth talker.
-
free from harshness, sharpness, or bite; bland or mellow, as cheese or wine.
-
not harsh to the ear, as sound.
the smooth music of a ballroom dance band.
-
Phonetics. without aspiration.
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
smooths,
present (3rd person singular)
-
smoothed,
past participle, past
-
smoothing
present participle
-
to make smooth of surface, as by scraping, planing, or pressing.
-
to remove (projections, ridges, wrinkles, etc.) in making something smooth (often followed by away orout ).
-
to free from difficulties.
-
to remove (obstacles) from a path (often followed byaway ).
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to make more polished, elegant, or agreeable, as wording or manners.
-
to tranquilize, calm, or soothe (a person, the feelings, etc.).
-
Mathematics. to simplify (an expression) by substituting approximate or certain known values for the variables.
noun
-
act of smoothing.
She adjusted the folds with a smooth of her hand.
-
something that is smooth; a smooth part or place.
through the rough and the smooth.
verb phrase
adjective
-
resting in the same plane; without bends or irregularities
-
silky to the touch
smooth velvet
-
lacking roughness of surface; flat
-
tranquil or unruffled
smooth temper
-
lacking obstructions or difficulties
-
-
suave or persuasive, esp as suggestive of insincerity
-
( in combination )
smooth-tongued
-
-
(of the skin) free from hair
-
of uniform consistency
smooth batter
-
not erratic; free from jolts
smooth driving
-
not harsh or astringent
a smooth wine
-
having all projections worn away
smooth tyres
-
maths (of a curve) differentiable at every point
-
phonetics without preliminary or simultaneous aspiration
-
gentle to the ear; flowing
-
physics (of a plane, surface, etc) regarded as being frictionless
adverb
verb
-
to make or become flattened or without roughness or obstructions
-
to take or rub (away) in order to make smooth
she smoothed out the creases in her dress
-
to make calm; soothe
-
to make easier
smooth his path
-
electrical engineering to remove alternating current ripple from the output of a direct current power supply
-
obsolete to make more polished or refined
noun
-
the smooth part of something
-
the act of smoothing
-
tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form a continuous line Compare rough
Synonym Usage
See level.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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oversmoothnessnoun
-
smoothernoun
-
smoothnessnoun
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unsmoothnessnoun
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presmoothverb (used with object)
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resmoothverb (used with object)
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oversmoothadjective
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smoothableadjective
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unsmoothadjective
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unsmoothedadjective
-
oversmoothlyadverb
-
smoothlyadverb
-
unsmoothlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smoothsimple
-
smoothssimple
-
have smoothedperfect
-
has smoothedperfect
-
am smoothingprogressive
-
are smoothingprogressive
-
is smoothingprogressive
-
have been smoothingperfect progressive
-
has been smoothingperfect progressive
Past
-
smoothedsimple
-
had smoothedperfect
-
was smoothingprogressive
-
were smoothingprogressive
-
had been smoothingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smooth
First recorded before 1050; (adjective) Middle English smothe, late Old English smōth; compare Middle English smethe, Old English smēthe “smooth”; cognate with Old Saxon smōthi; (verb) late Middle English smothen, derivative of the adjective; replacing Middle English smethen, Old English smēth(i)an
Explanation
Something smooth is free of roughness, stubble, or other imperfections that you can feel with your hands. If your wooden table is giving you splinters, use a sander to smooth it down and make it smooth. As you can see, smooth works as both a verb and an adjective. Smooth has lots of interesting uses: Caught in a wind storm? Better smooth out your hair when you head inside. Got a friend who's good with the ladies? Try imitating his smooth moves. Need help to smooth out a dispute between two friends? Invite them out for coffee and offer to help them smooth out their differences. Some pianists prefer ivory keys to plastic because they're less smooth, and their fingers don't slip. The best dancers can move smoothly from one move to another.
Vocabulary lists containing smooth
Mellow Out: Synonyms for "Calm"
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But Pope Leo's close ties to the world's most Catholic continent, cultivated over long years as a missionary and then archbishop in Peru, helped smooth the transition, she said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
This chemical messenger allows nerve cells to communicate and helps the brain coordinate smooth, controlled movements.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026
Instead, Jauregui took more advances, first to smooth over financial bumps while he waited for a tax refund check, and then to fund the new Navy job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching a “strike force” of state government workers to help reduce bureaucratic delays and smooth the way for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The smooth cement of the walkway, still warm from the hot November day, comes through the holes in the bottom of my shoes.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
It has made their permits and approvals strictly a state business, hoping to offer developers a smoother ride and to attract jobs and a larger tax base.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Together, these changes reduce the number of neurons produced, contributing to the smaller size and smoother surface of the marmoset brain.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
Controller in hand, the game also feels much smoother.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
I learned most of my U.S. history from C-Span, and life goes smoother when you “Pretend to Know Something.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
If I think about something before I tell it here, well, it comes out smoother.
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
Glass scientists who worked on developing the smoothest and lightest smartphone displays are now also spending time on specialized glass for packaging advanced AI processing chips, according to industry executives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
Your Party has not got off to the smoothest of starts.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
But it hasn’t always been the smoothest ride.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
Turner’s Philadelphia tenure didn’t get off to the smoothest start.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
She swept into the smoothest curtsy I’d ever seen.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
These include having software that smooths out rapid acceleration, adding sound systems and subtle seat vibrations to signal to passengers that the car is moving, and offering adaptive regenerative braking that reduces sudden deceleration.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
The index is even further above its 200-day moving average, a technical signal that smooths out additional volatility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The dynamism of the singing and dancing smooths out some of the adaptation’s rough edges.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
This layer smooths the input data before calculating changes, avoiding the instability caused by traditional methods.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2026
She smooths her trousers with both hands and continues walking purposefully, to where she doesn’t know.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
On the eighth hole, I rolled my 6-foot par putt over a pile of sheep manure smoothed over by my right foot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Some of the rifts can't easily be smoothed over.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Ahead of the opening arguments, Rinderknecht smoothed back his hair and his lawyer helped adjust his tie, before giving him a pat on the back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The report may have smoothed over some frayed nerves about artificial intelligence coming for jobs.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
I straightened my spine and smoothed my blue cotton frock.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
That was a big step toward smoothing the enrollment process, but the accounts still need to be claimed by parents to manage them and to allow family members, friends and employers to contribute.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
When they have been effective, they have managed to ride the choppier waves while also smoothing relations with the media - providing context for inquisitive journalists and helping tamp down any simmering issues.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
In its sleep lab, electrodes measured my brain waves, which first appeared as spiky waveforms before smoothing during deep or “slow wave” sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
During the album’s rollout, the pop star’s visage was perfected with the help of some uncanny AI smoothing, while her accompanying “Confessions II” short film featured a team of AI artists in the credits.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
In the following days, she was mostly silent, withdrawn, as they sat outside and watched the carpenter cutting, hammering, smoothing.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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