Smear Meaning
/smɪə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.
verbTo cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing.
Sentence Examples
I'd like to have a Pap smear done.
The ruling party is running a smear campaign against the opposition.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A child may accidentally ____ butter on a shirt while making a sandwich.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist used a sponge to ____ the paint across the canvas, creating a unique blurred effect.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English smeren, smerien, from Old English smerian, smyrian, smierwan (“to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan, from Proto-Germanic *smirwijaną. Doublet of schmear. Cognate with Saterland Frisian smeere, Dutch smeren (“to smear, lubricate”), Low German smeren, German schmieren (“to smear, lubricate”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål smøre (“to lubricate”), Norwegian Nynorsk smørja (“to lubricate”), Swedish smörja (“to grease”), Faroese and Icelandic smyrja.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In general, all bodies whose surfaces are even will […] stick to each other, and if a liquid be smeared over either surface, their cohesion will be still the stronger."
— 1776, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 5, in A Survey of Experimental Philosophy, London: T. Carnan and F. Newbery, page 74:
"Then again these figures take no account of the thousands of beggars who travel free in India. Many of these are religious "Sadhus", dressed often in nothing but a loin-cloth, or even less, and their bodies smeared with ashes. A large number of these men are nothing but impostors, but the Hindu railway staff usually are afraid to interfere with them."
— 1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 778:
"A person smeared with the excrement of a mouse was rendered impotent, according to Pliny the Elder."
— 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 158:
"Then you would kneel and smear a handful of pomade through my hair, comb it over."
— 2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, New York: Penguin:
"Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A child may accidentally ____ butter on a shirt while making a sandwich.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist used a sponge to ____ the paint across the canvas, creating a unique blurred effect.