smart Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore
    smartness; smarting.
  2. verb be the source of pain
    ache; hurt.
  3. adjective showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness
  4. adjective satellite elegant and stylish
    chic; voguish.
    • chic elegance
    • a smart new dress
    • a suit of voguish cut
  5. adjective satellite characterized by quickness and ease in learning
    bright.
    • some children are brighter in one subject than another
    • smart children talk earlier than the average
  6. adjective satellite improperly forward or bold
    saucy; impudent; wise; overbold; impertinent; fresh; sassy.
    • don't be fresh with me
    • impertinent of a child to lecture a grownup
    • an impudent boy given to insulting strangers
    • Don't get wise with me!
  7. adjective satellite painfully severe
    • he gave the dog a smart blow
  8. adjective satellite quick and brisk
    • I gave him a smart salute
    • we walked at a smart pace
  9. adjective satellite capable of independent and apparently intelligent action
    • smart weapons

WordNet

Smart intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. smarten, AS. smeortan; akin to D. smarten, smerten, G. schmerzen, OHG. smerzan, Dan. smerte, SW. smärta, D. smart, smert, a pain, G. schmerz, Ohg. smerzo, and probably to L. mordere to bite; cf. Gr. , , terrible, fearful, Skr. md to rub, crush. Cf. Morsel.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Smarted; present participle & verbal noun Smarting
Definitions
  1. To feel a lively, pungent local pain; -- said of some part of the body as the seat of irritation; as, my finger smarts; these wounds smart. Chaucer. Shak.
  2. To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to suffer; to feel the sting of evil.
    No creature smarts so little as a fool. Pope.
    He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it. Prov. xi. 15.
Smart transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause a smart in. "A goad that . . . smarts the flesh." T. Adams.
Smart noun
Etymology
OE. smerte. See Smart, v. i.
Definitions
  1. Quick, pungent, lively pain; a pricking local pain, as the pain from puncture by nettles. "In pain's smart." Chaucer.
  2. Severe, pungent pain of mind; pungent grief; as, the smart of affliction.
    To stand 'twixt us and our deserved smart. Milton.
    Counsel mitigates the greatest smart. Spenser.
  3. A fellow who affects smartness, briskness, and vivacity; a dandy. Slang Fielding.
  4. Smart money (see below). Canf
Smart adjective
Etymology
OE. smerte. See Smart, v. i.
Wordforms
comparative Smarter ; superlative Smartest
Definitions
  1. Causing a smart; pungent; pricking; as, a smart stroke or taste.
    How smart lash that speech doth give my conscience. Shak.
  2. Keen; severe; poignant; as, smart pain.
  3. Vigorous; sharp; severe. "Smart skirmishes, in which many fell." Clarendon.
  4. Accomplishing, or able to accomplish, results quickly; active; sharp; clever. Colloq.
  5. Efficient; vigorous; brilliant. "The stars shine smarter." Dryden.
  6. Marked by acuteness or shrewdness; quick in suggestion or reply; vivacious; witty; as, a smart reply; a smart saying.
    Who, for the poor renown of being smart Would leave a sting within a brother's heart? Young.
    A sentence or two, . . . which I thought very smart. Addison.
  7. Pretentious; showy; spruce; as, a smart gown. in modifying dress or appearance, now used in the sense of "neat, trim", or "stylish, attractive, elegant."
  8. Brisk; fresh; as, a smart breeze. Syn. -- Pungent; poignant; sharp; tart; acute; quick; lively; brisk; witty; clever; keen; dashy; showy. -- Smart, Clever. Smart has been much used in New England to describe a person who is intelligent, vigorous, and active; as, a smart young fellow; a smart workman, etc., conciding very nearly with the English sense of clever. The nearest approach to this in England is in such expressions as, he was smart (pungent or witty) in his reply, etc.; but smart and smartness, when applied to persons, more commonly refer to dress; as, a smart appearance; a smart gown, etc.

Webster 1913