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Smooth vs Blunt - What's the difference?

smooth | blunt | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between smooth and blunt

is that smooth is having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough while blunt is having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; not sharp.

As nouns the difference between smooth and blunt

is that smooth is something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily while blunt is a fencer's practice foil with a soft tip.

As verbs the difference between smooth and blunt

is that smooth is to make smooth or even while blunt is to dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.

As an adverb smooth

is smoothly.

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)

    blunt

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; not sharp.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • The murderous knife was dull and blunt .
  • *{{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)
  • , title= The Three Corpse Trick, section=chapter 5 , passage=The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=17 citation , passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].}}
  • Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; opposed to acute.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • His wits are not so blunt .
  • Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.
  • the blunt admission that he had never liked my company
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • a plain, blunt man
  • Hard to impress or penetrate.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions.
  • Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive.
  • Synonyms

    * (having a thick edge or point) dull, pointless, coarse * (dull in understanding) stupid, obtuse * (abrupt in address) curt, short, rude, brusque, impolite, uncivil, harsh

    Derived terms

    * blunt instrument * bluntly * bluntness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fencer's practice foil with a soft tip.
  • A short needle with a strong point.
  • (smoking) A marijuana cigar.
  • * 2005': to make his point, lead rapper B-Real fired up a '''blunt in front of the cameras and several hundred thousand people and announced, “I'm taking a hit for every one of y'all!” — Martin Torgoff, ''Can't Find My Way Home (Simon & Schuster 2005, p. 461)
  • (UK, slang, archaic, uncountable) money
  • * Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers
  • Down he goes to the Commons, to see the lawyer and draw the blunt
  • A playboating move resembling a cartwheel performed on a wave.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.
  • (figuratively) To repress or weaken, as any appetite, desire, or power of the mind; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of; as, to blunt the feelings.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=January 12 , author=Saj Chowdhury , title=Liverpool 2 - 1 Liverpool , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=That settled the Merseysiders for a short while but it did not blunt the home side's spirit. }}

    See also

    * bluntly * dull ----