smooth
adjective · adverb · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Having a texture that lacks friction.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
smoothIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsmuð
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
chiefly of water
Placid, calm.
Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.
Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.
of an edge
Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.
of a motion
Unbroken.
adverb
Smoothly.
noun
A member of an anti-hippie fashion movement in 1970s Britain.
Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.
The act of smoothing
“He gave his hair a quick smooth.”
A smoothing action.
A domestic animal having a smooth coat.
verb
Make (a surface) shine
transitive
To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure; to press, to flatten.
transitive
To make straightforward or easy.
transitive
To calm or palliate.
Make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing
transitive
To make smooth or even.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
Used this way, smooth is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A power tool used for sanding wood.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A texture without roughness.
With no problems or difficulties.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A fox terrier with smooth hair.
European elm with lustrous smooth leaves used as an ornamental.
Common shrub of the eastern United States with smooth bark.
A variety of aster.
Australian timber tree resembling the kauri but having wood much lighter in weight and softer.
A weed.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Smooth dogfish of European coastal waters.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.