Phrase guide

smart bomb

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A kind of guided missile.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A guided air-dropped bomb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: aeronautics, aerospace, aviation, business, engineering, government, military, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A weapon that damages or kills all enemies within a large area.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: video-games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a bomb that can be guided (by a laser beam or radio) to its target

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • smart bombs have revolutionized aerial bombardment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: dumb bomb

Broader terms: bomb

Narrower terms: laser-guided bomb, LGB

History

Etymology

From smart + bomb. Since the 1980s. Guided bombs are a hypernymous class that began earlier (with dumber types), but computerized precision-guided bombs called by the name smart bomb were newfangled novelties in the 1980s.