smattering
UK/ˈsmæ.təɹ.ɪŋ//ˈsmætɚɪŋ/
smattering noun: a shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject. Also the present participle and gerund of smatter.
Noun
smattering (plural smatterings)
- A shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject.
- She knows a smattering of Greek, but not enough to carry on a conversation.
- […] he had a lytell smatterynge in the lawe: […]1529, Thomas More, The Supplycacyon of Soulys [The Supplication of Souls], London: W. Rastell, Book 2
- Synonyms:
- smatter
- A small amount or number of something.
- There’s only a smattering of people who oppose the first amendment.
- More sophisticated dishes, like trout, with a heavy smattering of finely minced rosemary between the filets, are simple and au naturel: the trout comes with a lemon wedge, a bed of mixed greens, and the head.2004 April 12, Dana Goodyear, “Westville”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC
Also used as
smattering is also the present participle and gerund of smatter.
Examples of smattering in a sentence
- It's easy enough to be a beak when you're young and athletic, and can offer the latest University smattering.1907 April, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, The Longest Journey, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
- He had only a mail-order smattering of music, painting; he had never read Dante or Goethe nor anything of Shakespeare except the plays on which he had been spoon-fed at Amherst […]1951, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 2, in World So Wide:
- He was introduced to a smattering of boos from the crowd, a sign of the presence of fans from Notre Dame and other Big Ten schools.2016 November 1, Teddy Greenstein, “Jim Harbaugh rates Wrigley Field atmosphere 'A+++'”, in Chicago Tribune:
Synonyms of smattering
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of smattering
| plural | smatterings |
|---|
Origin of smattering
From smatter + -ing.
From Middle English smateringe, smattrynge, equivalent to smatter + -ing.
Questions about smattering
- What does smattering mean?
- Smattering means a shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject.
- How do you use smattering in a sentence?
- It's easy enough to be a beak when you're young and athletic, and can offer the latest University smattering.
- What part of speech is smattering?
- Smattering is a noun.
- How do you pronounce smattering?
- Smattering is pronounced /ˈsmæ.təɹ.ɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of smattering?
- The plural of smattering is smatterings.
Words near smattering in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smattering (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-smattering.ogg.
Cite this entry: “smattering.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smattering. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.