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Added 9 October 2026

smart

/smɑɹt/ noun

Categories: Describing WordsEveryday Words

In Latin: callidus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about smart at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore.

verb

  1. Be the source of pain.

adjective

  1. Showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness.
  2. Elegant and stylish.
    chic elegance
  3. Characterized by quickness and ease in learning.
    some children are brighter in one subject than another

Origin

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

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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