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
The surfeit of story also helps smooth over some glaring flaws.
—
Alison Herman, Variety, 18 July 2024
Pressures faced by lower-income consumers have been smoothed over by robust spending from the middle- and higher-income cohort.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 12 July 2024
Two Biden campaign officials held a call Wednesday night with a group of Nikki Haley supporters to try to smooth over the post-debate chaos.
—Stef W. Kight, Axios, 11 July 2024
Ditching Eye Cream While eye creams are great at smoothing over dry skin and temporarily plumping out fine lines and wrinkles, that's pretty much it.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 21 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smooth over 
Alison Herman, Variety, 18 July 2024
Pressures faced by lower-income consumers have been smoothed over by robust spending from the middle- and higher-income cohort.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 12 July 2024
Two Biden campaign officials held a call Wednesday night with a group of Nikki Haley supporters to try to smooth over the post-debate chaos.
—Stef W. Kight, Axios, 11 July 2024
Ditching Eye Cream While eye creams are great at smoothing over dry skin and temporarily plumping out fine lines and wrinkles, that's pretty much it.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 21 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smooth over
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smooth over.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near smooth over
Cite this Entry
“Smooth over.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smooth%20over. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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