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smartness

smartness

8.2
A sharp, stinging pain from a wound or burn
  • noun
  • /ˈsmɑrt.nəs/
translation icon : escozor
  • She felt a sharp smartness in her arm after the injection.

Examples

  • She felt the smartness of the disinfectant as it touched her scraped knee.

  • The smartness from the sunburn lasted for several days.

  • He winced at the smartness caused by the paper cut.

  • The smartness of the cut on his finger was unbearable.

  • After he accidentally touched the hot stove, he felt a sharp smartness in his fingertips.

  • The athlete winced from the smartness of the scrape on his knee after falling during the race.

  • When the medic cleaned the wound, a brief smartness shot through my arm.

Synonyms

smart
vssmartness
100 8.5

A sudden sharp pain that stings

is the same meaning but is the longer derived noun form
smarts
vssmartness
5.8

A sharp physical pain or a hurt feeling

refers only to sharp stinging physical pain from wounds or burns

How Painful

agony
135 3.9
pain
∞ 1.0
ache
92 1.3
smartness
8.2
twinge
17 4.9

Surface Forms

smartness singular
smartnesses plural

Morphology

smartness = smart (opaque) = smart + ness

The word 'smart' in this context refers to a sharp, stinging pain, which is not a common derivation from the adjective 'smart' meaning intelligent.

Etymology

Smartness for a stinging pain comes from an old English verb smeortan meaning 'to sting' or 'to hurt'. So smartness can mean a quick, sharp pain, like the sting of a paper cut.