Standard Lemma guide

smartness

noun · 7 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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S M AA1 R T N IH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or quality of being smart, intelligence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The state or quality of being smart in appearance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The result or product of being smart.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

liveliness and eagerness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he accepted with alacrity
  • the smartness of the pace soon exhausted him

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alacrity, briskness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liveliness, life, spirit, sprightliness

5

noun

Meaning 5

elegance by virtue of being fashionable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chic, chicness, chichi, modishness, stylishness, swank, last word

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: elegance

Narrower terms: jauntiness, nattiness, dapperness, rakishness

6

noun

Meaning 6

intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: brightness, cleverness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: intelligence

7

noun

Meaning 7

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: smart, smarting

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pain, hurting

History

Etymology

From Middle English smartnesse, smertnesse, equivalent to smart + -ness. Cognate with Middle Dutch smartenisse (“pain, injury, insult, scorn, agony”).

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: leepheid — the state or quality of being smart
  • Finnish: fiksuus — the state or quality of being smart
  • Greek: εξυπνάδα (exypnáda) — the state or quality of being smart
  • Hungarian: okosság — the state or quality of being smart
  • Irish: innealtacht — the state or quality of being smart
  • Irish: tagracht — the state or quality of being smart
  • Latin: nitor — the state or quality of being smart
  • Malayalam: മിടുക്ക് (miṭukkŭ) — the state or quality of being smart
  • Portuguese: esperteza — the state or quality of being smart
  • Scottish Gaelic: tapadh — the state or quality of being smart
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̀мишљато̄ст — the state or quality of being smart
  • Serbo-Croatian: dòmišljatōst — the state or quality of being smart
  • Spanish: tienta — the state or quality of being smart
  • Spanish: minerva — the state or quality of being smart