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

In its latest publication, the lobby representing over 1,600 member companies put forward 1,141 recommendations to Chinese policymakers, aimed at smoothing over various obstacles faced by European firms in the country. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 17 Sep. 2025

Not every sticking point was smoothed over so easily. —Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Sep. 2025

But one thing the feuding MAGA factions agree on is that there isn’t really another prominent figure like Kirk — a big voice who was focused on smoothing over his movement’s fractures, not hashing them out in public for clout. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2025

When smoothed over a five-year basis, core PCE reflects price advances not seen since the late 1960s or early 1970s, a period of economic turbulence and policy missteps that paved the way for the stagflation of the following decade. —Bob Haber, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for smooth over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover