to smooth
46
3.7
- verb
- /smuːð/
:
facilitar
- I know we've gotten off to a rocky start but I want to smooth things over.
- smooth the transition
- smooth the way
- smooth over relations
Examples
-
Directors have figured out ways to unify disparate cinematic techniques and smooth out discontinuities.
Academic text (2017) -
See if I can smooth things over.
-
We're just going to smooth it all out.
-
I just came over to smooth things over with your husband.
-
I'm sure we can smooth this out.
-
When he returned to the neighborhood, Gore helped smooth the transition with the younger Lords.
Academic text (2011) -
Even before new teachers begin their work, principals can smooth the way by making logistical adjustments.
Academic text (2012) -
You'd be surprised Mr. Conway how a little courtesy all around can help to smooth out the most complicated problems.
-
The awkwardness of the reunion, of sorts, was smoothed over by the sudden bustle of activity.
Fiction book (1999) -
The manager helped to smooth the process of hiring by streamlining the application requirements.
Synonyms
305
2.1
To make something less painful or difficult
6
3.4
Make a process or problem easier by removing difficulties
1
3.8
To make something less rough by pressing it flat or by calming people
1
4.4
To make something better by fixing small problems
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
1
3.9
Muscle in the walls of organs and blood vessels that works without thinking
- Specialized
A small shark that lives along the Atlantic coast of the Americas with smooth skin and a thin body
- Specialized
A small shark that lives on the sea bottom along the Atlantic coasts of North and South America
- Specialized
A round fungus with smooth outer skin when young that cracks and darkens
- Specialized
A thin snake with smooth green scales, not poisonous, living in meadows and open woods in the United States
- US
A North American plant that lives many years with smooth leaves and pale violet flowers
- Australian
A large Australian tree with a smooth pale trunk and light soft wood used for building
- Specialized
A low lawn weed with smooth stems and leaves that spreads by seeds and roots
- Australian
A plant from eastern Australia with bright blue, purple, or red flowers
- Specialized
A large shark with a smooth, hammer-shaped head often fished for its liver and skin
- Specialized
A small green plant with smooth edges on its leaves that grows in shady rocky places
A river turtle with a flat, smooth, rubbery shell that lives in flowing water
- US
A common shrub from eastern North America with smooth, waxy leaves and clusters of red berries
- Specialized
A long thin cell that makes muscle in organs and blood vessels move without you controlling it
How Easy
41
4.1
- Formal
187
4.9
46
3.7
305
2.1
99
2.5
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word smooth comes from the old English smōþ, meaning 'even', so to smooth a process is to take away the 'bumps' and problems and make the steps easy and steady.