smart
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /smɑɹt/
ipa: /smɑːt/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t
Forms: form: smarter
form: smartest
Etymology: From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smart, from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).
Senses: examples: text: I always preferred the church, and I still do. But that was not smart enough for my family. They recommended the army. That was a great deal too smart for me.
ref: 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 19, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
synonyms: word: bright
word: capable
word: sophisticated
word: witty
word: astute
word: brainy
word: bright
word: brilliant
word: clever
word: educated
word: genius
word: gifted
word: ingenious
word: intellectual
word: intelligent
word: keen
word: knowledgeable
word: piquant
word: quick
word: quick-witted
word: rational
word: sagacious
word: savvy
word: scholared
word: sharp
word: smart
word: talented
word: whip-smart
word: wise
antonyms: backward
banal
boorish
dull
inept
glosses: Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.
synonyms: word: cultivated
word: educated
word: learned
word: academical
word: clueful
word: cultivated
word: educated
word: erudite
word: in the know
word: knowledgeable
word: knowledgeful
word: knowsome
word: learned
word: savvy
word: scholarly
word: smart
word: sussed
word: switched on
word: up on
word: well-informed
antonyms: ignorant
uncultivated
simple
glosses: Exhibiting intellectual knowledge, such as that found in books.
examples: text: smart car
text: smartcard
text: smartphone
text: “Imagine this,” says an advertising consultant named Barry Lowenthal. “I’m a smart toaster, and I’m collecting data on how many times the toaster is used.”
ref: 2018 December 18, Joe Pinsker, “The Coming Commodification of Life at Home”, in The Atlantic:
antonyms: dumb
glosses: Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology).
examples: text: a smart outfit
text: You look smart in that business suit.
synonyms: attractive
chic
dapper
stylish
handsome
antonyms: garish
outré
tacky
glosses: Good-looking; well dressed; fine; fashionable.
examples: text: He became tired of his girlfriend's smart remarks.
text: Don't get smart with me!
text: Who, for the poor renown of being smart / Would leave a sting within a brother's heart?
ref: 1728, Edward Young, Satire:
text: I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart, when my ill genius, who I verily believed inspired him purely for my destruction, suggested to him such a reply
ref: 1711 October 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, September 20, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 175; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
synonyms: silly
glosses: Cleverly shrewd and humorous in a way that may be rude and disrespectful.
examples: text: smart skirmishes, in which many fell
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641, Oxford: The Theater:
text: There is a smart shower at 5 P.M., and in the midst of it a hummingbird is busy about the flowers in the garden, unmindful of it, though you would think that each big drop that struck him would be a serious accident.
ref: 1860 July 9, Henry David Thoreau, journal entry, from Thoreau's bird-lore, Francis H. Allen (editor), Houghton Mifflin (Boston, 1910), Thoreau on Birds: notes on New England birds from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau, Beacon Press, (Boston, 1993), page 239
glosses: Sudden and intense.
examples: text: How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
glosses: Causing sharp pain; stinging.
examples: text: a smart pain
glosses: Sharp; keen; poignant.
examples: text: He raised his voice; it hurt her feelings right smart.
text: That cast on his leg chaffs him right smart.
glosses: Intense in feeling; painful. Used usually with the adverb intensifier right.
examples: text: The stars shine smarter.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “Georgic 1”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Efficient; vigorous; brilliant.
examples: text: a smart gown
glosses: Pretentious; showy; spruce.
examples: text: a smart breeze
glosses: Brisk; fresh.
glosses: Hard-working.
Derived terms: book smart
book-smart
heart smart
nonsmart
outsmart
quick smart
quicksmart
right smart
semismart
smart alec
smart-aleck
smart aleck
smart-aleckism
smart-alecky
smart-allecky
smart appliance
smart-arse
smart arse
smart-arsed
smart as a whip
smart as paint
smart ass
smart-ass
smartass
smart band
smartboard
smart bomb
smartbook
smart card
smart casual
smart chance
smart city
smart contract
smart cookie
smart doorbell
smart dress
smart drug
smartdust
smart dust
smarten
smarten up
smart farming
smart glasses
smartglasses
smart grid
smart home
smartish
smartling
smartly
smartman
smart meter
smart mob
smartmodem
smart-money
smart money
smart motorway
smart-mouth
smartmouth
smartmouthed
smart-mouthed
smartness
smart off
smartpen
smart phone
smartphone
smart pill
smart plug
smart pointer
smart power
smart quotes
smart-reference proxy
smarts
smart set
smart shop
smartsizing
smart speaker
SmartStamp
smart steaming
smart terminal
smart thinking
smart ticket
smart TV
smart watch
smarty
smartypants
street-smart
street smart
street smarts
supersmart
ultrasmart
unsmart
whip-smart
work smarter, not harder