smartphone

noun

smart·​phone ˈsmärt-ˌfōn 

variants or less commonly smart phone

plural smartphones also smart phones

: a cell phone that includes additional software functions (such as email or an Internet browser)

Examples of smartphone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In February, the district’s ban on use of personal devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, went into effect. —Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 5 Dec. 2025

Unlike China, India’s internet and smartphone landscape is dominated by global companies. —Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 4 Dec. 2025

As smartphones spread, SMS declined sharply after 2012. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025

That design choice erodes the protections that normally prevent one app from peering into the data of others, and turns Sanchar Saathi into a permanent, non-consensual point of access sitting inside the operating system of every Indian smartphone user. —Arshad R. Zargar, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for smartphone

• alone
• atone
• backbone
• bemoan
• bluestone
• breastbone
• brownstone
• capstone
• cheekbone
• condone
• curbstone
• cyclone

Kids Definition

smartphone

noun

smart·​phone ˈsmärt-ˌfōn 

: a cell phone that includes additional functions (as email or an Internet browser)