adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smeary
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.
The eeriest costume this Halloween season would be Aunt Gladys, with her odd copper wig, oversized sunglasses, blue eyeshadow, and smeary red lipstick.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2025
But Sonny has a gift for spotting talent, and he’s aiming high: Jordan, the 21-year-old who’s left college early and whose moves he studies on smeary tape.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
The 4-megapixel UDC still looks fairly smeary, and I’d only use it as a last resort.
From The Verge ● Aug. 17, 2022
The same national shape appears in this show, constructed not of wooden pieces but of smeary, overlapping graphite gestures.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022
It's long dried now, but the smeary lines running side to side suggest someone -who perhaps was not fully in control of his mental faculties -tried to wipe it away.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
