Great Smoky Mountains

American  

plural noun

1. a range of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee; most of the range is included in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 720 square miles (1,865 square kilometers). Highest peak, Clingman's Dome, 6,642 feet (2,024 meters).

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Great Smoky Mountains British  

plural noun

1. the W part of the Appalachians, in W North Carolina and E Tennessee. Highest peak: Clingman's Dome, 2024 m (6642 ft)

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Great Smoky Mountains Cultural  

1. Part of the Appalachian Mountains on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the crest of the Smokies. The Appalachian Trail follows the crest of the mountains.

Named after the smokelike haze that envelops them.

Etymology

Origin of Great Smoky Mountains

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Great Smoky Mountains

The pair set off on a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park from their home in North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

The book, which is equal parts entertaining and incisive, charts how the “I Will Always Love You” singer was born in a family of 12 children at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

Born into crushing poverty in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a sack of cornmeal.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026

Roads and campgrounds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park were closed to visitors ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as hurricane-force winds swept through eastern Tennessee, park administrators said.

From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2023

As she walked across the campus, the world moved from shadow to sun, the purple-blue peaks that stood watch over the town shrugging off the mist that lent the Great Smoky Mountains their name.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly