smooth
Americanadjective
-
smoother,
comparative
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smoothest
superlative
-
free from projections or unevenness of surface; not rough.
smooth wood; a smooth road.
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generally flat or unruffled, as a calm sea.
-
free from hairs or a hairy growth.
a smooth cheek.
-
of uniform consistency; free from lumps, as a batter, sauce, etc.
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free from or proceeding without abrupt curves, bends, etc..
a smooth ride.
-
allowing or having an even, uninterrupted movement or flow.
smooth driving.
-
easy and uniform, as motion or the working of a machine.
-
having projections worn away.
a smooth tire casing.
-
free from hindrances or difficulties.
a smooth day at the office.
-
noting a metal file having the minimum commercial grade of coarseness for a single-cut file.
-
undisturbed, tranquil, or equable, as the feelings, temper, etc.; serene.
a smooth disposition.
-
elegant, easy, or polished.
smooth manners.
-
ingratiatingly polite or suave.
That salesman is a smooth talker.
-
free from harshness, sharpness, or bite; bland or mellow, as cheese or wine.
-
not harsh to the ear, as sound.
the smooth music of a ballroom dance band.
-
Phonetics. without aspiration.
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
smooths,
present (3rd person singular)
-
smoothed,
past participle, past
-
smoothing
present participle
-
to make smooth of surface, as by scraping, planing, or pressing.
-
to remove (projections, ridges, wrinkles, etc.) in making something smooth (often followed by away orout ).
-
to free from difficulties.
-
to remove (obstacles) from a path (often followed byaway ).
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to make more polished, elegant, or agreeable, as wording or manners.
-
to tranquilize, calm, or soothe (a person, the feelings, etc.).
-
Mathematics. to simplify (an expression) by substituting approximate or certain known values for the variables.
noun
-
act of smoothing.
She adjusted the folds with a smooth of her hand.
-
something that is smooth; a smooth part or place.
through the rough and the smooth.
verb phrase
adjective
-
resting in the same plane; without bends or irregularities
-
silky to the touch
smooth velvet
-
lacking roughness of surface; flat
-
tranquil or unruffled
smooth temper
-
lacking obstructions or difficulties
-
-
suave or persuasive, esp as suggestive of insincerity
-
( in combination )
smooth-tongued
-
-
(of the skin) free from hair
-
of uniform consistency
smooth batter
-
not erratic; free from jolts
smooth driving
-
not harsh or astringent
a smooth wine
-
having all projections worn away
smooth tyres
-
maths (of a curve) differentiable at every point
-
phonetics without preliminary or simultaneous aspiration
-
gentle to the ear; flowing
-
physics (of a plane, surface, etc) regarded as being frictionless
adverb
verb
-
to make or become flattened or without roughness or obstructions
-
to take or rub (away) in order to make smooth
she smoothed out the creases in her dress
-
to make calm; soothe
-
to make easier
smooth his path
-
electrical engineering to remove alternating current ripple from the output of a direct current power supply
-
obsolete to make more polished or refined
noun
-
the smooth part of something
-
the act of smoothing
-
tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form a continuous line Compare rough
Synonym Usage
See level.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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oversmoothnessnoun
-
smoothernoun
-
smoothnessnoun
-
unsmoothnessnoun
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presmoothverb (used with object)
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resmoothverb (used with object)
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oversmoothadjective
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smoothableadjective
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unsmoothadjective
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unsmoothedadjective
-
oversmoothlyadverb
-
smoothlyadverb
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unsmoothlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smoothsimple
-
smoothssimple
-
have smoothedperfect
-
has smoothedperfect
-
am smoothingprogressive
-
are smoothingprogressive
-
is smoothingprogressive
-
have been smoothingperfect progressive
-
has been smoothingperfect progressive
Past
-
smoothedsimple
-
had smoothedperfect
-
was smoothingprogressive
-
were smoothingprogressive
-
had been smoothingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smooth
First recorded before 1050; (adjective) Middle English smothe, late Old English smōth; compare Middle English smethe, Old English smēthe “smooth”; cognate with Old Saxon smōthi; (verb) late Middle English smothen, derivative of the adjective; replacing Middle English smethen, Old English smēth(i)an
Explanation
Something smooth is free of roughness, stubble, or other imperfections that you can feel with your hands. If your wooden table is giving you splinters, use a sander to smooth it down and make it smooth. As you can see, smooth works as both a verb and an adjective. Smooth has lots of interesting uses: Caught in a wind storm? Better smooth out your hair when you head inside. Got a friend who's good with the ladies? Try imitating his smooth moves. Need help to smooth out a dispute between two friends? Invite them out for coffee and offer to help them smooth out their differences. Some pianists prefer ivory keys to plastic because they're less smooth, and their fingers don't slip. The best dancers can move smoothly from one move to another.
Vocabulary lists containing smooth
Mellow Out: Synonyms for "Calm"
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rather than forming a relatively smooth, uniformly expanding structure, however, the new observations reveal that the canopy contains many narrow, thread-like features.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The first media member agrees, saying, “He’s a good-looking dude. His skin is, like, so smooth, I was like, damn, no tattoos?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
Still, Reese’s road to the finals hasn’t been entirely smooth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
China is its neighbour's largest trading partner and a vital diplomatic and political backer, although relations have not always been smooth with the ruling Kim dynasty.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
I pause on a pattern for a comfort bird—a bird figurine that’s sanded smooth to the touch and has no details.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
The surfaces are smoother and more lifelike, there is a closer psychological connection between the two figures, and a surer command of the material allows him to attain greater heights of realism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Controller in hand, the game also feels much smoother.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Had Ratan Tata overseen the succession himself, the transition would have been smoother, he says.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
This pattern is consistent with a smoother progression into deeper stages of sleep.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
And in fact, their departure the following morning was smoother than usual.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
“SPR releases go the smoothest when you can release something very close to what’s been lost,” said Andrew Harbourne, analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
Your Party has not got off to the smoothest of starts.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
But it hasn’t always been the smoothest ride.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
“Not the smoothest of rides to get here,” first baseman Freddie Feeman added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
Mama had a fire going in the fire pit, a small hearth that Deydey had made for them of the smoothest, thickest, heaviest stones.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
These include having software that smooths out rapid acceleration, adding sound systems and subtle seat vibrations to signal to passengers that the car is moving, and offering adaptive regenerative braking that reduces sudden deceleration.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
In this cosmic battle, dark energy appears to be winning — expanding our universe over trillions of years until everything thins and smooths out into almost nothingness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
This layer smooths the input data before calculating changes, avoiding the instability caused by traditional methods.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2026
It removes friction, smooths edges, and hands you the answer before you’ve had a chance to reach for it yourself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
It would inflate the balloon with a huge burst of power, smoothing out the lumpiness of the universe in the same way a breath of air smooths out the wrinkles of a balloon.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Some of the rifts can't easily be smoothed over.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Over the course of four minutes, the robot fumbled with the towel’s floppy and unwieldy shape as it slowly smoothed out the fabric, located the corners and lined up the edges.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Her overseas posting and relocation were smoothed by $1.2 million in perks, covering housing-related costs, lease termination, tuition, tax prep and other benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
What we’re likely to be left with is an adaptation that hits all of the beats of the hundreds of motion picture takes on the story with all of their charms and idiosyncrasies smoothed away.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
While Taran smoothed the feathers of the delighted crow, Adaon set about examining Ellidyr’s wound.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
“As researchers, we think about smoothing consumption,” said Greig.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Team boss Frederic Vasseur, who said he would talk to the drivers before discussing this in the media, has some smoothing out to do before this weekend's race in Madrid.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Increasingly, luxury resorts and lodges are smoothing the learning curve, pairing upscale accommodations with fully outfitted excursions that take care of the logistics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
During the album’s rollout, the pop star’s visage was perfected with the help of some uncanny AI smoothing, while her accompanying “Confessions II” short film featured a team of AI artists in the credits.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
She finally stood, concentrating on smoothing down her dress.
From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness
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