smarten

verb smart·en \ ˈsmär-tᵊn \

Updated on: 2 Mar 2018

Definition of smarten

smartened; smartening play \ˈsmärt-niŋ, ˈsmär-tᵊn-iŋ\

transitive verb

: to make smart or smarter; especially : spruce —usually used with up

intransitive verb

: to smarten oneself —used with up

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Recent Examples of smarten from the Web

Or they can be smartened up with tapered pants and a crisp shirt.

— kavita daswani, latimes.com, "Esquivel is having a winter sample sale this weekend; Toms to debut Venice Collection of shoes," 9 Feb. 2018
And Lexus finally smartened up and swapped the IS250's 2.5-liter V6 for a 2.0-liter turbo four that's way more powerful.

— ezra dyer, Popular Mechanics, "In a Downsized Turbocharged World, the Lexus RC-F Is the V8 Beast We Need," 3 Aug. 2015
Now scientists at Princeton University have invented a technology aimed at smartening up the millions of windows already in place.

— daniel akst, WSJ, "The Smart Windows That Could Be Sunglasses for Your House," 13 July 2017
Smarten up, Senators Tom Carper (Democrat of Delaware), Mike Crapo (Republican, Idaho), Angus King (Independent, Maine), Sherrod Brown (Democrat, Ohio) and Ron Johnson (Republican, Wisconsin).

— guy trebay, New York Times, "From President Macron, a Lesson in Style," 2 Aug. 2017
Hotels are smartening up in new ways, with thought-provoking experiences for guests that make a more lasting impression.

— kate springer, CNN, "These hotels want to boost your IQ," 9 May 2017
Released this week, Planets is One Ring Zero’s latest attempt to smarten up traditional pop using unconventional sonics and subjects.

— scott thill, WIRED, "One Ring Zero Reboots Holst’s Planets, Keeps Pluto in Mix," 3 Sep. 2010
Or at least, smarten up the house with some new gadgets to solve this issue.

— tom chiarella, Popular Mechanics, "The Well-Monitored Home," 28 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'smarten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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