# smart

> English word · Verb · IPA /smɑɹt/ · frequency rank #1,578

## Definitions
1. To hurt or sting.
2. To cause a smart or sting in.
3. To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.

## Etymology
From Middle English smerten, from Old English *smeortan (“to smart”), from Proto-West Germanic *smertan, from Proto-Germanic *smertaną (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.

## Easily confused with
- **SMT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-smt)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-star)
- **sort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-sort)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-stat)
- **SWAT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-swat)
- **soar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-soar)
- **spat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-spat)
- **spar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-spar)
- **smut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-smut)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-start)
- **stars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-stars)
- **sport** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-sport)
- **spare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-spare)
- **smash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-smash)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-stark)
- **spark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-spark)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-stare)
- **smear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-smear)
- **swarm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-swarm)
- **starr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smart-vs-starr)

## Common misspellings (8)
`msart`, `samrt`, `smarrt`, `smartt`, `smatr`, `smmart`, `smrat`, `ssmart`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/smart