What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Buff vs Smooth - What's the difference?

buff | smooth | Synonyms |

Buff is a synonym of smooth.


As an acronym buff

is (slang|us|air force) big ugly fat fellow (or fucker); us airforce nickname for the b-52 bomber.

As an adjective smooth is

having a texture that lacks friction not rough.

As an adverb smooth is

smoothly.

As a noun smooth is

something that is , or that goes smoothly and easily.

As a verb smooth is

to make smooth or even.

buff

English

Etymology 1

From .

Noun

(en noun)
  • Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
  • * Shakespeare
  • a suit of buff
  • A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing.
  • A brownish yellow colour.
  • * Dryden
  • a visage rough, deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff
  • A military coat made of buff leather.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (informal) A person who is very interested in a particular subject; an enthusiast.
  • He’s a history buff .
  • (gaming) An effect that temporally makes a gaming character stronger.
  • (rail transport) Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition.
  • The bare skin.
  • to strip to the buff
  • * Wright
  • To be in buff is equivalent to being naked.
  • The greyish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat.
  • A substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits.
  • * Police said the 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and "buff" into bricks. (CBC)
  • Derived terms
    * in the buff
    Antonyms
    * (video games) debuff * (video games) nerf

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.
  • (bodybuilding): Unusually muscular. (also buffed'' or ''buffed out )
  • The bouncer was a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl.
  • * 1994 , Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture , page 155:
  • The appearance of logic often derives from faulty syllogisms such as Sgt. Koon's conclusion that King was an ex-con because he was "buffed out " (heavily muscled). The thinking is: "ex-cons are often buffed out; this man is buffed out; therefore, this man is an ex-con."
  • (slang) attractive.
  • Derived terms
    * buff-tip moth * buffly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To polish and make shiny by rubbing.
  • (gaming) To make a character stronger.
  • The enchanter buffed the paladin to prepare him to fight the dragon.
    Derived terms
    * buff out * buff up * buff wheel

    Synonyms

    * (to make smooth and shiny by rubbing) wax, shine, polish, furbish, burnish
    Antonyms
    * (video games) debuff * (video games) nerf

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A buffet; a blow.
  • * Spenser
  • Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent / That made him reel.
    Derived terms
    * blind man's buff

    smooth

    English

    (wikipedia smooth)

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (dialectal) * (verb) smoothe

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:The outlines must be smooth , imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities.
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2005, author=Lesley Brown, title=Sophist, extra=, by=(Plato)
  • , passage=Teaching that’s done by talking seems to have one rough path and another part which is smoother .}}
  • Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.
  • :
  • * 2011 , Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England :
  • *:England's path to Poland and Ukraine next summer looked to be a smooth one as goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent gave them a comfortable lead after 31 minutes.
  • Bland; glib.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
  • *:This smooth discourse and mild behavior oft / Conceal a traitor.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1912, author=(Gustavus Myers), title= History of the Supreme Court of the United States, page=133
  • , passage=This feeling, grounded on the experience of centuries of oppression, was not to be allayed by smooth explanations on the part of the advocates of the Constitution.}}
  • Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:the only smooth poet of those times
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:Waller was smooth ; but Dryden taught to join / The varying verse, the full-resounding line.
  • *(John Gay) (1685-1732)
  • *:When sage Minerva rose, / From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows.
  • (lb) Suave; sophisticated.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2003, author=T. Lewis Humphrey, isbn=0595272606, title= The Price of Love, page=279
  • , passage=He was so smooth and handsome. He knew just what to say and when to say it.}}
  • (lb) Natural; unconstrained.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2006, author=Mary Kay Moskal and Camille Blachowicz, title= Reading for Fluency, isbn=1593852649, page=3
  • , passage=In order for a reading to be smooth and effortless, readers must be able to recognize and read words accurately, automatically, and quickly.}}
  • (lb) Unbroken.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1927, author=United States (National Guard Bureau), title= Manual of Basic Training and Standards of Proficiency for the National Guard
  • , page=181 , passage=Demonstrate first by the numbers and then as one smooth movement.}}
  • Placid, calm.
  • *, title= An American Cruiser in the East, page=47
  • , passage=As we worked to the southward, we picked up fair weather, and enjoyed smooth seas and pleasant skies.}}
  • (lb) Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1994, author=Robert E. Swanson, isbn=0801845564, title= A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians, page=8
  • , passage=A leaf having a smooth margin, without teeth or indentations of any kind, is called entire.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1997, author=Christopher Dickey, isbn=0684842009, title= Innocent Blood: A Novel, page=91
  • , passage=Out of the handles flipped the smooth blade and the serrated blade, which was dangerously sharp, the flathead screwdrivers, the Phillips screwdriver, the can opener, the awl.}}
  • (lb) Not grainy; having an even texture.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1997, author=Lou Seibert Pappas, isbn=0811815730, title= Sorbets and Ice Creams, page=19
  • , passage=A compact and stylish design, it produces 1 generous quart of excellent, smooth ice cream in 20 to 25 minutes.}}
  • (lb) Having a pleasantly rounded flavor; neither rough nor astringent.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2002, author=Candace Irvin, isbn=0373079362, title= For His Eyes Only, page=9
  • , passage=The coffee was smooth , so smooth she took another sip.}}
  • Having derivatives of all finite orders at all points within the function’s domain.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2003, author=Eric W. Weisstein, isbn=1584883472, title= CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics, page=419
  • , passage=Any ANALYTIC FUNCTION is smooth . But a smooth function is not necessarily analytic.}}
  • Lacking marked aspiration.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1830, author=Benjamin Franklin Fisk, title= A Grammar of the Greek Language, page=5
  • , passage=

    Synonyms

    * even

    Antonyms

    * rough * uneven * bumpy

    Derived terms

    * smooth breathing * smooth collie * smooth jazz * smooth move * smooth muscle * smooth operator * smooth sailing * smoothen * smoothie * smoothly * smoothness

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Smoothly.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is , or that goes smoothly and easily.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxvii. 16
  • The smooth of his neck.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1860, author=Anne Manning, title=The Day of Small Things citation
  • , passage=Things are often equalized by roughs and smooths being set against one another.}}
  • A smoothing action.
  • (Thackeray)
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=Julienne Van Loon, title=Road Story, isbn=1741146216 citation
  • , passage=She brushes down her hair with a little bit of spit and a smooth of her hand and opens the bright green door, walking a few metres, squinting.}}
  • A domestic animal having a smooth coat.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1916, author=William Ernest Castle and Sewall Wright, title=Studies of Inheritance in Guinea-pigs and Rats citation
  • , passage=In the 4-toe stock there is a wide gap between the lowest rough and the smooths which come from the same parents.}}
  • A member of an anti-hippie fashion movement in 1970s Britain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1999, author=Peter Childs and Mike Storry, title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture, isbn=0806991356 citation
  • , passage=By the early 1970s, skinhead culture began to mutate into the variant ‘white ethnic’ styles of the suedeheads and smooths .}}
  • (statistics) The analysis obtained through a smoothing procedure.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1990, author=Wolfgang Härdle, title=Applied Nonparametric Regression, isbn=0521429501 citation
  • , passage=A smooth of the potato data set has already been given in Figure 1.2.}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make smooth or even.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1961, author=William Gibson, title=The Miracle Worker, isbn=0573612382 citation
  • , passage=She smooths her skirt, looking as composed and ladylike as possible.}}
  • To make straightforward.
  • * 2007 , Beth Kohn, Lonely Planet Venezuela (page 379)
  • Caracas can be a tough place but the tremendously good-natured caraqueños smoothed my passage every step of the way.
  • (statistics, image processing, digital audio) To capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1999, author=Murray R. Spiegel and Larry J. Stephens, title=Schaum’s Outline of Theory and Problems of Statistics, isbn=0070602816 citation
  • , passage=

    Derived terms

    * smooth down * smooth endoplasmic reticulum * smoother * smooth hound * smoothing circuit * smoothing consumption * smoothing press * smooth out * smooth over * smooth-spoken * smooth-tongued

    See also

    * (smoothing)

    Anagrams

    * (l)