Word.ws English Dictionary

smarts

smarts is the third-person singular simple present indicative of smart.

Noun

smarts pl (plural only)

  1. (US, informal, plural, plural-only) intelligence; smartness
    • A lot can be said for the infinite mercies of God, but the smarts of a good pharmacist, when you get down to it, is worth more.1981, Philip K. Dick, Valis, →ISBN, page 36
    • "Guess that was a stupid question. Either you're smart or you're not. I am not book smart but I have street smarts. I think street smarts are important.2007, Fern Michaels, Free Fall, page 142
  2. (informal, plural, plural-only) A sharp pain.

Meaning of smart

Verb

smart (third-person singular simple present smarts, present participle smarting, simple past smarted or (obsolete) smort, past participle smarted or (obsolete) smort or (obsolete) smorten)

  1. (intransitive) To hurt or sting.
    • After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed "Ouch, my arm smarts!"
  2. (transitive) To cause a smart or sting in.
    • A goad that […] smarts the flesh.a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Faith’s Encouragement
  3. (intransitive) To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.
    • You think this cruel? take it for a rule, / No creature ſmarts ſo little as a Fool.1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 5, lines 81–82

See all 22 meanings of smart

Words formed from smarts

Phrases with smarts

Questions about smarts

What does smarts mean?
Smarts means intelligence; smartness.
What is smarts the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Smarts is the third-person singular simple present indicative of smart.
What part of speech is smarts?
Smarts is a noun.

Words near smarts in the dictionary

  1. smartphone
  2. smartphone zombie
  3. smartphone zombies
  4. smartphoned
  5. smartphones
  6. smarts
  7. smarts off
  8. smartshop
  9. smartshops
  10. smartsize
  11. smartsized

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smarts (page history and authors); smart (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “smarts.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smarts. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.