smooth over
phrasal verb
smoothed over; smoothing over; smooths over also smoothes over
: to make (a disagreement, problem, difficulty, etc.) seem less serious than it really is
Don't worry about missing the application deadline—we'll smooth that over with the office.
She smoothed over the objections to his candidacy.
Examples of smooth over in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Google's Instant Apps tried to smooth over the experience by delivering an app live without installation.
—
Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 13 June 2025
Fortunately, Venus in your sign will smooth over difficulties with others.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 9 June 2025
Luckily, director Kate Dumoulin helps smooth over much of the discordance.
—Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 June 2025
Those tensions are said to have largely been smoothed over, helped by the club taking away a fee for booking courts that had existed even for members previously.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for smooth over
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Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 13 June 2025
Fortunately, Venus in your sign will smooth over difficulties with others.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 9 June 2025
Luckily, director Kate Dumoulin helps smooth over much of the discordance.
—Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 June 2025
Those tensions are said to have largely been smoothed over, helped by the club taking away a fee for booking courts that had existed even for members previously.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for smooth over
Cite this Entry
“Smooth over.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smooth%20over. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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