Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or showing intelligence; bright. synonym: intelligent.
  • adjective Canny and shrewd in dealings with others.
  • adjective Amusingly clever; witty.
  • adjective Impertinent; insolent.
  • adjective Energetic or quick in movement.
  • adjective Fashionable; elegant: synonym: fashionable.
  • adjective Capable of making adjustments that resemble those resulting from human decisions, chiefly by means of electronic sensors and computer technology.
  • intransitive verb To cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain.
  • intransitive verb To be the location of such a pain.
  • intransitive verb To feel such a pain.
  • intransitive verb To suffer acutely, as from mental distress, wounded feelings, or remorse.
  • noun Sharp pain or anguish.
  • noun Slang Intelligence; expertise.
  • idiom (right smart) A lot; a considerable amount.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sharp, quick, lively pain; especially, a pricking local pain, as the pain from the sting of nettles.
  • noun Hence, mental pain or suffering of any kind; pungent grief; affliction.
  • noun Same as smart-money: as, to pay the smart.
  • noun A dandy; one who affects smartness in dress; also, one who affects briskness, vivacity, or cleverness.
  • A contracted form of smarteth, third person singular present indicative of smart.
  • To feel a lively, pungent pain; also, to be the seat of a pungent local pain, as from some piercing or irritating application; be acutely painful: often used impersonally.
  • To feel mental pain or suffering of any kind; suffer; be distressed; suffer evil consequences; bear a penalty.
  • To cause a smart or sharp pain; cause suffering or distress.
  • To cause a smart or pain to or in; cause to smart.
  • Causing a smart or sharp pain; especially, causing a pricking local pain; pungent; stinging.
  • Sharp; keen; poignant: applied to physical or mental pain or suffering.
  • Marked by or executed with force or vigor; vigorous; efficient; sharp; severe: as, a smart blow; a smart skirmish; a smart walk.
  • Brisk; lively; fresh: as, a smart breeze.
  • Acute and pertinent; witty; especially, marked by a sharpness winch is nearer to pertness or impertinence than to genuine wit; superficially witty: noting remarks, writings, etc.: as, a smart reply; a smart saying.
  • Brisk; vivacious; lively; witty; especially, sharp and impertinent, or pert and forward, rather than genuinely witty: noting persons.
  • Dressed in an elaborately nice or showy manner; well-dressed; spruce.
  • Elaborately nice; elegant; fine; showy: noting articles of dress.
  • Quick; active; intelligent; clever: as, a smart business man.
  • Keen, as in bargain-making; sharp, and often of questionable honesty; well able to take care of one's own interests.
  • Fashionable; stylish; brilliant.
  • Careful; punctual; quick.
  • Considerable; large; as, a right smart distance.
  • Forcible; earnest.
  • Having strong qualities; strong.
  • In good health; well; not sick.
  • Swift-sailing, as a vessel: in distinction from able, stanch, or seaworthy.
  • Up to the mark; well turned out; creditable.
  • Smartly; vigorously; quickly; sharp.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To cause a smart in.
  • adjective Causing a smart; pungent; pricking.
  • adjective Keen; severe; poignant.
  • adjective Vigorous; sharp; severe.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, stinging, keen, alert, from Old English smeart, causing pain.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English smart, smarte, smerte, from Old English smeart ("smarting, smart, painful"), 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").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English smerte, from smerten ("to smart"). See above. Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smart, Low German smart, German Schmerz, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta. More above.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English smerten, from Old English smeortan ("to smart"), from Proto-Germanic *smertanan (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.

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Examples

  • In fact, mommy is SO smart that she rapes all the silly vain ’smart’ women, forcing them into pregnancy or death.

    EP081: Margin of Error 2006

  • Of course, you could also argue that Bob was smart enough to get himself into those rarefied realms in the first place, but there is a lot more to that than ’smart.’

    Power Line on the Minimum Wage 2005

  • After all, the term "smart growth" was first coined in Maryland.

    Smart growth bill capitalizes on Maryland transit 2011

  • Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term "smart power," said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department.

    Obama's "smart power" plan risks death of 1,000 cuts Reuters 2011

  • Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term "smart power," said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department.

    Obama's "smart power" plan risks death of 1,000 cuts Reuters 2011

  • Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term "smart power," said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term "smart power," said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Research reveals the UK is confused by the term smart/casual

    Confused.com News 2010

  • On the security side, the competitive picture is -- you know, McAfee acquired Secure Computing so where we would use the term smart filter, our sum product in that are the web watcher product, that hasn't really changed.

    Networking Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha 2009

  • One website, Macaoyuan, features a popular posting named 30 Money Saving Tricks, which is geared towards what it calls smart penny pinching women in Shanghai.

    China Looks for Online Bargains as Consumer Prices Rise 2011

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  • Trams in reverse.

    July 22, 2007

  • Good job for a Good Woooord!

    November 13, 2023