smooth
Americanadjective
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smoother,
comparative
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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.
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free from hairs or a hairy growth.
a smooth cheek.
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of uniform consistency; free from lumps, as a batter, sauce, etc.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Phonetics. without aspiration.
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
smooths,
present (3rd person singular)
-
smoothed,
past participle, past
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smoothing
present participle
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to make smooth of surface, as by scraping, planing, or pressing.
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to remove (projections, ridges, wrinkles, etc.) in making something smooth (often followed by away orout ).
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to free from difficulties.
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to remove (obstacles) from a path (often followed byaway ).
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to make more polished, elegant, or agreeable, as wording or manners.
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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
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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
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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
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smoothernoun
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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
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oversmoothlyadverb
-
smoothlyadverb
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unsmoothlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smoothsimple
-
smoothssimple
-
have smoothedperfect
-
has smoothedperfect
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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:
Trump’s pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, recently took to social media saying that people have been impersonating her and asking for a “processing fee” to help smooth the path to clemency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
We’ve watched celebrities undertake this shape-shifting toward pillowy lips, smooth foreheads, high cheekbones.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026
After a single minimally invasive injection, the material changes from a liquid into a smooth, lubricating semisolid depot at body temperature.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Barrett Browning’s path was unusually smooth after her marriage to fellow poet Robert Browning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
As he reached the frozen shore, he lunged forward headfirst, his belly making slippery contact with the flat, smooth ice.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Males usually have a more noticeable point along the front edge of the head, while females tend to have a smoother and more rounded outline.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Test Score also rallied from behind but had a little smoother journey under Juan Hernandez and outdid the other closers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
When it came to their second, he hoped for a much smoother arrival.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
A trust can give you more privacy and smoother estate management if you were to become incapacitated.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
His face, which had always appeared smooth, seemed smoother still, in this new state; he almost reminded Helen of a monk — a man at some profound leisure.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
Even at the Carpenters’ smoothest, I hear deep sadness in Karen’s singing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
“SPR releases go the smoothest when you can release something very close to what’s been lost,” said Andrew Harbourne, analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 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
She swept into the smoothest curtsy I’d ever seen.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
This layer smooths the input data before calculating changes, avoiding the instability caused by traditional methods.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2026
The surge in deductions temporarily pushes corporate tax payments down, before the pattern smooths and corporate tax revenues stabilize over time.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
It removes friction, smooths edges, and hands you the answer before you’ve had a chance to reach for it yourself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Working on a thick sheet of glass, she uses the blade from a utility knife to work the glue into the paper and smooths it out on the surface with her fingertips.
From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025
Mutti smooths Helmuth's hair into place and touches his cheek.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Munich's Allianz Arena is sculpted by thousands of diamond-shaped inflatable cushions, while Sydney's similarly named Allianz Stadium has a flatter facade smoothed with long bronze fins.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
What we’re likely to be left with is an adaptation that hits all of the beats of the hundreds of motion picture takes on the story with all of their charms and idiosyncrasies smoothed away.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 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
Few automobile exteriors are ever finished like this, with its broad, sterling-like chrome garnishes at the lower grille intakes, the rocker panels, exhaust outlets and bumpers, all smoothed perfectly into the blown-glass curvatures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
I smoothed her hair and she calmed after squeezing my finger with one of her tight curls.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Earnings growth will be driven by banks swapping out floating deposit income—assets that fluctuate with changing interest rates—for fixed-rate assets, smoothing their net interest income, the analysts write.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
It can work for some people who prefer the “pull off the Band-Aid approach,” but for most, smoothing out the tax consequences works best.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
The visit was officially meant to celebrate transatlantic ties as the United States marks its 250th anniversary of independence from Britain, but much of Charles's time has been spent smoothing over tensions over Iran.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Finds included bone pegs for stretching vellum as it dried, and tools such as knives and pumice stones for scraping and smoothing animal hides.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
I continued separating and smoothing pieces of her pixie haircut.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
