smite
Americanverb (used with object)
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to strike or hit hard, with or as with the hand, a stick, or other weapon.
She smote him on the back with her umbrella.
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to deliver or deal (a blow, hit, etc.) by striking hard.
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to strike down, injure, or slay.
His sword had smitten thousands.
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to afflict or attack with deadly or disastrous effect.
smitten by polio.
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to affect mentally or morally with a sudden pang.
His conscience smote him.
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to affect suddenly and strongly with a specified feeling.
They were smitten with terror.
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to impress favorably; charm; enamor.
He was smitten by her charms.
verb (used without object)
idioms
verb
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to strike with a heavy blow or blows
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to damage with or as if with blows
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to afflict or affect severely
smitten with flu
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to afflict in order to punish
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to strike forcibly or abruptly
the sun smote down on him
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smite
First recorded before 900; Middle English smiten, Old English smītan; cognate with German schmeissen “to throw,” Dutch smijten
Explanation
To smite is to strike with a heavy blow. If you’re playing an ancient Norse warrior in a play, you might get to smite your enemy with a club. Smite comes from the old English for striking or smearing. You’re most likely to find it reading Biblical stories or mythologies, for example, where the thunderbolt of Zeus smites some misbehaving Greek fellow. The past participle of this verb is the cool word smitten, which is what you say about someone who's fallen head over heels for something or someone, that is, their emotions have been struck.
Vocabulary lists containing smite
The Hobbit
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"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
“Curtis and I served together in the state Senate, he is your state senator. He is Republican. I am a Democrat. But when we team up in a bipartisan manner, we will smite evil.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 25, 2024
She has a daughter, Olympia, who is 4 — nearly the age she was when she first picked up a tennis racket and started to smite opponents with it.
From Washington Post • Aug. 9, 2022
On it, we hear a 31-year-old woman impersonating her 19-year-old self reflecting on her 15-year-old self, and doing it all to smite the men who hoped to seize control of her songs.
From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2021
She can’t summon Jason from the depths to smite the iniquitous.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2021
Before I could speak or Katz could seize a log with which to smite her dead, she said, “Well, I don’t mind if I do,” and ate it in two bites.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
