smart
adjective
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Definition of smart
(Entry 1 of 4)
smart
verbDefinition of smart (Entry 2 of 4)
smart
nounDefinition of smart (Entry 3 of 4)
smart
adverbDefinition of smart (Entry 4 of 4)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for smart
Synonyms: Adjective
dapper, natty, sharp, snappy, spruce
Synonyms: Verb
Synonyms: Noun
ache, pain, pang, prick, shoot, sting, stitch, throe, tingle, twinge
Antonyms: Adjective
disheveled (or dishevelled), frowsy (or frowzy), sloppy, slovenly, unkempt
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Examples of smart in a Sentence
Adjective
Poodles are said to be smart dogs. That was a smart investment. He gave her a smart answer.Verb
Her eyes were smarting from the smoke. the injection only smarted for a momentNoun
the toddler was whining over the smart from the cut she had the smarts to start college at age 16, but perhaps not the emotional maturityAdverb
He plays smart and the fans appreciate that. I dress smarter than she does. Play it smart during the contract negotiations and you'll get more vacation time.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The airplane cabin is about to get smart, raising passenger expectations and privacy concerns. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "The Next Frontier in the Privacy Debate: Your Flight," 15 May 2019 Men are made fun of for being smart and good communicators, for listening and reading instead of talking. — Thomas Page Mcbee, Teen Vogue, "Kendrick Sampson on Masculinity, Race, and Why Men Should Be More Vulnerable," 26 Mar. 2019 Machine learning is coming to the masses, and those hordes of DIY drones and robots are about to get a whole lot smarter. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Nvidia's $99 Jetson Nano Developer Kit brings GPU-supercharged AI smarts to maker projects," 18 Mar. 2019 The Elvie’s cohorts include smart pumps, like the Willow, which offers coaching feedback — for a cool $499.99. — Ciara Phelan, Allure, "What Is Femtech, and Is It the New Pink Tax?," 22 Apr. 2019 While Google has been steadily expanding Assistant’s capabilities to speakers and other smart devices, the Roav Bolt represents a new battlefield in its fight against Amazon’s Alexa assistant. — Michael Simon, PCWorld, "Anker's Roav Bolt brings Google Assistant to your car's 12V socket, even with an iPhone," 17 Apr. 2019 The hotel is coming on the heels, too, of some smart urban planning, with the firm Snøhetta doing wayfinding, new pedestrian walkways, benches, and more in Times Square. — Spencer Bailey, Town & Country, "Ian Schrager on His Latest Luxury Hotel: "Why Not Times Square?"," 16 Apr. 2019 Jose Julian as Gordie Jose is Gordie, a smart guy who becomes a huge asset in the New World. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "Everything You Need to Know About Netflix's Newest Teen Drama "The Society"," 4 Apr. 2019 On the app First, open the Alexa app on your smart device. — Natt Garun, The Verge, "How to hear (and delete) every conversation your Amazon Alexa has recorded," 28 Feb. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Jose Mourinho was left smarting after his biggest league defeat in almost six years. — SI.com, "Man Utd vs Chelsea Preview: Classic Encounter, Recent Form, Team News & More," 24 Feb. 2018 Europe and Asia are still smarting over the U.S. having beaten them to the 4G finish line. — Robert M. Mcdowell, WSJ, "To Boost 5G, Keep the Industry Free," 27 Sep. 2018 Senate Democrats, still smarting from being denied that seat, now argue Trump’s nominee must wait until voters have a say in the midterms. — Dana Blanton, Fox News, "Fox News Poll: Jury's out on Kavanaugh, voters want Senate vote before midterms," 13 July 2018 Some voters are still smarting from property-tax hikes by the state this past spring for education, and others are looking ahead to February, when Seattle Public Schools will put its own construction and operations levies on the ballot. — Daniel Beekman, The Seattle Times, "Seattle property-tax levy to test voters’ generosity toward education," 15 Oct. 2018 Bogle was warned against the dangers of allocating money to smart beta funds. — Bloomberg.com, "Balchunas Discusses Bogle’s Smart Beta Warning (Audio)," 12 June 2017 The country’s banks, smarting from decades of low interest rates, have been eager to lend SoftBank billions of dollars, while individual investors have snapped up its bonds. — Mayumi Negishi, WSJ, "SoftBank Targets $20 Billion IPO for Japanese Mobile Unit," 12 Nov. 2018 Meanwhile, Indonesia’s government, still smarting from having its entire airline industry put on a black list by Western nations due to shoddy safety oversight, is also inspecting all of the 737 MAX jets operated in the country. — Barbara S. Peterson, Popular Mechanics, "Lion Air 610 Had the Same Problem Four Flights in a Row Before It Crashed," 5 Nov. 2018 For voters still smarting over Merrick Garland, that’s the ultimate motivator. — Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, "The GOP Can’t Win for Losing," 20 Sep. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
One thing is certain: Beckham has the fashion smarts to make even the most polarizing accessory look good. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "Somehow Victoria Beckham Makes the Season’s Most Impractical Boots Look Totally Easy," 24 Jan. 2019 The Google Home brings the smarts of the excellent Google Assistant into a sleek smart speaker. — Alexandria Haslam, PCWorld, "Best Buy's giving away a free Google Home Mini with a Google Home today," 1 Oct. 2018 That might be premature, as Tunisia has the smarts to slow the tempo of the game and cause trouble. — Martin Rogers, USA TODAY, "Five early World Cup upsets that could shape tournament," 7 June 2018 As a kid, Jenkins found comfort in his love of learning, and even drew the ire of bullies who criticized his smarts. — Char Adams, PEOPLE.com, "Teen Who Was Once Homeless Scores Full Ride to Harvard: 'There's a Light at the End of the Tunnel'," 25 May 2018 Russell is a dynamic player who shapes the game using his athletic abilities and smarts. — Seattle Times Staff, The Seattle Times, "Backtalk: Times readers sound off on Mariners, Gonzaga and Seahawks," 29 Mar. 2019 The best—and hopefully only—lesson Washington could take from Meyer is that the feminine is powerful, that a sleek dress doesn’t diminish a woman’s smarts or status. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "Political Fashion Doesn’t Look Like Veep—But Maybe It Should," 1 Apr. 2019 Also like the Raspberry Pi, the Jetson Nano Developer Kit is loaded with hardware connections designed to expose the board’s smarts to the world. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Nvidia's $99 Jetson Nano Developer Kit brings GPU-supercharged AI smarts to maker projects," 18 Mar. 2019 The Sonos One pretty successfully combines the smarts of Alexa with sound quality that’s far superior to Amazon’s first-party efforts (although its promised Google Assistant support has been delayed to 2019). — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Sonos’ Black Friday deals feature the One and Beam speakers," 14 Nov. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
All this talk about getting smart and standing up to immigrants is a giant con. — William Saletan, Slate Magazine, "How Russia exploits American racism and xenophobia for its own gain.," 31 Mar. 2017 Adams, son of the second president, and sixth president himself, was smart, omnivorous, observant, bitchy, and hilarious (though always unintentionally). — Nr Symposium, National Review, "It’s Summer, Time to Catch Up on Your Reading — A Symposium," 31 July 2017 Work hard and smart now as this cycle of high dynamics won’t last forever. — Jeraldine Saunders, The Mercury News, "Horoscope: March 29, 2017," 29 Mar. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'smart.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
Read This to Get 'Smart'
Read This to Get 'Smart'
Are you smart enough to juggle the word's multiple meanings?
Statistics for smart
Last Updated
19 May 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for smart
The first known use of smart was before the 12th century
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More Definitions for smart
smart
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of smart
(Entry 1 of 3)
smart
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of smart (Entry 2 of 3)
smart
adverbEnglish Language Learners Definition of smart (Entry 3 of 3)
See the full definition for smart in the English Language Learners Dictionary
smart
adjective
\
Kids Definition of smart
(Entry 1 of 3)
smart
verbKids Definition of smart (Entry 2 of 3)
smart
nounKids Definition of smart (Entry 3 of 3)
smart
intransitive verb
\
Medical Definition of smart
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