1
: characteristic taste or flavor
also
: a perceptible taste or tincture
2
: a small quantity
smacked; smacking; smacks
1
: to have a taste or flavor
2
: to have a trace, vestige, or suggestion
a proposal that smacks of treason
: a sailing ship (such as a sloop or cutter) used chiefly in coasting and fishing
smacked; smacking; smacks
1
: to close and open (lips) noisily and often in rapid succession especially in eating
2
a
: to kiss with or as if with a smack
b
: to strike so as to produce a smack
: to make or give a smack
1
: a quick sharp noise made by rapidly compressing and opening the lips
2
: a loud kiss
3
: a sharp slap or blow
4
US, informal
: boastful or insulting language especially between opponents : smack talk, trash talk
—usually used in the phrase talk smack
The college basketball season is barely a month old, yet the top two candidates for national player of the year are already talking smack.—
Grant Wahl
Grant WahlExamples of smack in a Sentence
Noun (1)
add just a smack of vanilla to the whipped cream and the dessert will be perfect
Verb (2)
he smacked the punching bag one final time before heading to the showers
Noun (3)
the cook gave him a smack on the wrist when he tried to sneak an early taste of the sauce
Adverb
She dropped the book smack in the middle of the table.
The ball hit me smack in the face.
Recent Examples on the Web
Tori Latham, Robb Report, 11 June 2025
More people crowded onto the smack from other lifeboats.
—Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 July 2025
In 1648, a group of English Puritans set sail from Bermuda to avoid religious persecution only to smack into Devil’s Backbone reef.
—Norma Meyer, Oc Register, 9 July 2025
Tom Brown, Space.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Pache, racing around third trying to score the winner, ran smack into teammate Ildemaro Vargas, who had run onto the field (with a phone, ostensibly to record the celebration) to meet the runner at home.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for smack
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Noun
Outside, there’s a covered patio with a summer kitchen and a pool with a mosaic-tiled spa smack dab in the center.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 11 June 2025
More people crowded onto the smack from other lifeboats.
—Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
Verb
Standing all of 4-foot-5 and weighing 63 pounds, Indie-Reign routinely smacks the ball about 170 yards off the tee.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 July 2025
In 1648, a group of English Puritans set sail from Bermuda to avoid religious persecution only to smack into Devil’s Backbone reef.
—Norma Meyer, Oc Register, 9 July 2025
Adverb
Auroras usually make up either the Northern Lights or the Southern Lights, but they certainly aren't expected to occur smack in the middle.
—Tom Brown, Space.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Pache, racing around third trying to score the winner, ran smack into teammate Ildemaro Vargas, who had run onto the field (with a phone, ostensibly to record the celebration) to meet the runner at home.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for smack
Cite this Entry
“Smack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smack. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
smack
1 of 5 noun1
: characteristic or slight taste or flavor
2
: a small quantity
smack
2 of 5 verb
: to have a flavor, trace, or suggestion
smack
3 of 5 verb1
: to close and open the lips noisily especially in eating
2
: to kiss usually loudly
3
: to make or give a sharp slap or blow
smack
4 of 5 noun1
: a quick sharp noise made by rapidly opening and closing the lips
2
: a loud kiss
3
: a sharp slap or blow
smack
5 of 5 adverb
: in a square and sharp manner : directly
hit me smack in the face
Etymology
Noun
Old English smæc "a characteristic taste or flavor"
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