Smoother

How to spell smoother

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce smoother

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does smoother mean?

1. adjectiveMore even, level, or free from roughness than something else.

Smoother in a sentence

• After sanding, the tabletop felt much smoother than before.

• The new tyres gave the car a smoother ride on the motorway.

Where does smoother come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the comparative form of the adjective 'smooth', which descends from the Old English smōth, an early variant of smēthe meaning 'even, free from roughness, soft to the touch'. The original Germanic root described a surface without bumps or friction, and over time the sense widened to cover untroubled motion, calm liquids, and effortless social manner. The comparative is formed in the ordinary native English way by adding -er, the same suffix seen in 'taller' and 'wider', which English has used since Anglo-Saxon times to mark 'more of' a quality. The spelling keeps the double 'o' of the base word, which represents the long vowel, and the soft 'th' sound carried over from smēthe. Because the base word is so familiar, the comparative rarely trips writers, though the unusual cluster of 'oo' followed by 'th' before the ending is worth noting.

How the word is built

• smooth (Old English smōth: even, level)
• -er (comparative suffix)