to smatter paint
- phrasal verb
- The child would often smatter paint on his drawings without much thought.
Examples
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She tried to smatter paint on the canvas, but the colors ran together messily.
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The artist smattered paint across the wall.
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It's better to plan your strokes rather than just smatter paint across the surface.
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He decided to smatter paint on the canvas.
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The artist decided to smatter paint on the canvas, creating a playful and abstract effect.
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During the art class, the children learned how to smatter paint on their sheets to express their creativity.
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He would often smatter paint on the fence without worrying about making it perfect.
Synonyms
To put coloured liquid on a surface to protect or change how it looks
To spread small things like leaves or seeds over an area without order
To put small drops of liquid or tiny pieces on something
To spread a substance over a surface in a messy way
To put patches of color on a surface
To splash small drops onto a surface and make spots
To mark a surface with small spots of color or light
To spread things loosely and messily across an area
Put paint on a surface quickly without trying to be exact
To make drops of liquid hit many places, like clothes or a table
To cover with small drops or spots like mud and paint
To put small spots of color over a surface like a shirt or wall
To spread paint on a surface in a messy, uneven way
To cover a surface by scattering things like papers or flowers
To scatter small drops or bits lightly over something
To draw or write with uneven, untidy strokes
How Painted
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning follows directly from the literal meanings of the parts: 'smatter' (to scatter or dot small amounts) applied to 'paint' yields 'apply paint in a scattered/uneven way.' This is a straightforward verb + object composition and is predictable for a learner who knows both constituent words, even if 'smatter' is low-frequency.
Etymology
Smatter paint may come from the idea of the verb smatter, meaning to make small, scattered marks, and the image of dabbing paint quickly in little spots. That's why it means 'to paint in a light or careless way'.