smatter
Syllables: smat·terUK/ˈsmætə//ˈsmætəɹ/
smatter verb: to make (someone or something) dirty; to bespatter, to soil.
Verb
smatter (third-person singular simple present smatters, present participle smattering, simple past and past participle smattered)
- To make (someone or something) dirty; to bespatter, to soil.
- To ſay the Ieſuites are all ſmattred vvith Atheiſme, I vvill not: and to ſay, that any of them all are abſolutely ſcotfree from it, I cannot: it is ſo repugnant from their ovvne principles.1602, William Watson, “The IIII. Article”, in A Decacordon of Ten Quodlibeticall Questions Concerning Religion and State: […], [London]: […] [Richard Field], →OCLC, page 110
- [I]f euer you ſee father Parſons booke of intended Reformation, you vvill finde roome ynough to put in more odious ſtuffe then I haue handled, or am vvilling to ſmatter my pen vvithall.1602, William Watson, “The VI. Article”, in A Decacordon of Ten Quodlibeticall Questions Concerning Religion and State: […], [London]: […] [Richard Field], →OCLC, page 245
- To hit (someone or something) with a liquid; to splash, to spatter.
- To approach or study (something, such as a subject) superficially; to dabble in.
- I have smattered law, smattered letters, smattered geography, smattered mathematics; I have even a working knowledge of judicial astrology; and here I stand, all London roaring by at the street's end, as impotent as any baby.1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, “Prologue of the Cigar Divan”, in More New Arabian Nights: The Dynamiter, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 4–5
- To speak (a language or words) with only a superficial knowledge of it.
- The Barber ſmatters latin, I remember.1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby...
- All this, vvithout a Gloſs or Comment, / He vvould unriddle in a moment / In proper terms, ſuch as men ſmatter / VVhen they throvv out and miſs the matter.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “Canto I”, in Hudibras. The First Part. […], London: […] J. G. for Richard Marriot, […], →OCLC, page 7
- To hit with a liquid; to splash, to spatter.
- To have a slight, superficial knowledge of something; to dabble.
- He ſmattereth a lytell of the lawe: […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan...
- To talk ignorantly or superficially; to babble, to chatter.
- How Cownterfet Cowntenaunce of the new get / With Crafty Conueyauance dothe smater and flater, / And Cloked Collucyoun is brought in to clater / With Courtely Abusyoun; […]1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd...
- For I abhore to smatter / Of one so deuyllysshe a matter.a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth a Lytell Boke, whiche hath to Name Why Come Ye Nat to Courte? […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […]...
Noun
smatter (plural smatters)
- A shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject.
- [A]ll other Sciences, they vvere in a manner extinguiſh'd during the Courſe of this Empire, excepting only a Smatter of Judicial Aſtrology, by vvhich, under the Name of Chaldeans, ſome of that Race long amazed ignorant and credulous People.a. 1700 (date written), William Temple, “Some Thoughts upon Reviewing the Essay of Antient and Modern Learning”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. […], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […] Benjamin Tooke...
- A small amount or number of something.
- a smatter of applause
- [H]e can pray, and tell long Scrifts of Greek, / And broken Smatters of the Hebrevv ſpeak; / And in the Latin he is nicely read; / Can ſcrape and jouk; then is not he vvell bred?1739, Alexander Nicol, “The Honest Country-man’s Meditation, as He was Humming It over Alone in Words at Resting-time”, in Nature without Art: Or, Nature’s Progress in Poetry. Being a Collection of...
smatter meaning in Arabic
smatter in Arabic
- (transitive) to speak (a language or words) with only a superficial knowledge of it
- لَحَنَ laḥana
Examples of smatter in a sentence
- He smattered words in not a few foreign languages.1860 January–June, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “The Bachelor of Beak Street”, in Lovel the Widower, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […]...
- The languages of Polynesia are easy to smatter, though hard to speak with elegance.1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Making Friends”, in In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons...
- What ſtandyſt thou there⸝ all the day ſmatteryngea. 1521 (date written), [John Heywood], A Mery Play betwene the Pardoner and the Frere, the Curate and Neybour Pratte, London: […] Wyllyam...
- And vvhy my lady vviſedome? hold your tung, / Good prudence ſmatter vvith your goſſips, goe.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597...
Synonyms of smatter
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of smatter
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | smatters |
| present participle | smattering |
| past participle | smattered |
| past | smattered |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | smatterest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | smatteredst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | smattereth |
| Noun | |
| plural | smatters |
Origin of smatter
The verb is derived from Middle English smateren, smatteren, smater, smatere (“to make dirty, defile; to talk idly, chatter; to speak foolishly”); further etymology uncertain, compare the following: * Middle English smotten (“to corrupt, debase, defile”) (whence English smot (obsolete)), related to Late Middle High German smotzen, a variant of smutzen (whence modern German schmutzen (“to become dirty or soiled; to make dirty, soil”)), from smuz (“dirt”). * Danish smadre (“to smash”), German schmettern (“to smash; to resound”) (from Middle High German smetern (“to chatter; to rattle; (dialectal) to make a smacking sound”)); Norwegian Bokmål smadre (“to smash”), Swedish smattra (“to make short, sharp, quickly repeating noises, patter, rattle”), possibly originally onomatopoeic. However, the Oxford English Dictionary says “real connection is very doubtful”. The noun is derived from the verb.
Words formed from smatter
Words that rhyme with smatter
Questions about smatter
- What does smatter mean?
- Smatter means to make (someone or something) dirty; to bespatter, to soil.
- What is smatter in Arabic?
- Smatter in Arabic is لَحَنَ (laḥana). See Smatter meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use smatter in a sentence?
- He smattered words in not a few foreign languages.
- What part of speech is smatter?
- Smatter can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce smatter?
- Smatter is pronounced /ˈsmætə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of smatter?
- The past tense of smatter is smattered.
Words near smatter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smatter (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-smatter.ogg.
Cite this entry: “smatter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smatter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.