Smashing

How to spell smashing

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce smashing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does smashing mean?

1. verbBreaking something violently into pieces, or striking it with crushing force.
2. adjectiveInformal British term for excellent, wonderful, or extremely impressive.

Smashing in a sentence

• verb

  The storm kept smashing huge waves against the harbour wall all night.

• adjective

  The charity gala was a smashing success and raised thousands of pounds.

• verb

  He was smashing the old crockery against the wall in a fit of temper.

• adjective

  She wore a smashing emerald gown to the awards ceremony.

Where does smashing come from?

Language of origin: Other

The base verb 'smash' first appears in English in the early 1700s and its origin is genuinely uncertain, though it is widely thought to be imitative, an echo of the sharp sound of something breaking apart. Many word historians suspect a blend of older words such as 'smack' or 'smite' with 'mash' or 'dash', which is why the meaning carries the force of a sudden, crushing blow. The participle 'smashing' simply adds the ordinary '-ing' ending to that verb, describing the act of breaking something forcefully. By the late nineteenth century British speakers had begun using 'smashing' as a lively term of approval, meaning wonderful or first-rate, much as we still say a hit film or song is a 'smash'. The spelling stays pleasingly regular, with no silent letters and no doubled consonant, since 'smash' already ends in a consonant cluster that simply takes '-ing'.

How the word is built

• smash (to break violently)
• -ing (present participle / adjective suffix)