smooth over

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

Rosa hybrid flower extract provides antioxidant and skin-conditioning benefits, while dimethicone seals in hydration and smooth over flaky patches. — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 18 Sep. 2026

If a third of that pool has smoothed over an age, downplayed a caregiving responsibility or held back an honest opinion online, that manager is working from an edited pool without knowing it. — Houman Akhavan, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026

That November, Biden and Xi smoothed over ties for a third time at their San Francisco summit. — Da Wei, Foreign Affairs, 7 Sep. 2026

Modern-day formulas are often weightless and tout ingredients like hyaluronic acid and antioxidants to plump up the skin and keep it hydrated—while evening out tone and smoothing over textured spots. — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 4 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for smooth over

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