smart.
To hurt or sting.
Meaning & usage
To hurt or sting.
After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed "Ouch, my arm smarts!"
To cause a smart or sting in.
To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.
Where this word comes from
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.
Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.
Exhibiting intellectual knowledge, such as that found in books.
Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology).
smart car
smartcard
Good-looking; well dressed; fine; fashionable.
a smart outfit
You look smart in that business suit.
Cleverly shrewd and humorous in a way that may be rude and disrespectful.
He became tired of his girlfriend's smart remarks.
Don't get smart with me!
Sudden and intense.
Causing sharp pain; stinging.
Sharp; keen; poignant.
a smart pain
Intense in feeling; painful. Used usually with the adverb intensifier right.
He raised his voice; it hurt her feelings right smart.
That cast on his leg chaffs him right smart.
Efficient; vigorous; brilliant.
Pretentious; showy; spruce.
a smart gown
Brisk; fresh.
a smart breeze
Hard-working.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smart, 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”).
A sharp, quick, lively pain; a sting.
Mental pain or suffering; grief; affliction.
Clipping of smart money.
A dandy; one who is smart in dress; one who is brisk, vivacious, or clever.
A fan of professional wrestling who is aware of kayfabe and the scripted nature of the competition.
Where this word comes from
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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.