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PlainSpell

smash

/smæʃ/noun, verb

smash is spelled S-M-A-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,138th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, smash means “The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of smash is smashes.

How many letters and syllables are in smash?

Letters5: S-M-A-S-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing12 times per million words; the 6,138th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is smash?

Smash appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,138th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce smash?

  • /smæʃ/

Smash has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-smash.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of smash

  • smashes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • smashing participle, present
  • smashed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does smash mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.

    I could hear the screech of the brakes, then the horrible smash of cars colliding.

  2. 2

    IrelandUKcolloquialA traffic collision.

    The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash.

  3. 3

    colloquialSomething very successful or popular (as music, food, fashion, etc).

    This new show is sure to be a smash.

  4. 4

    A very hard overhead shot hit sharply downward.

    A smash may not be as pretty as a good half volley, but it can still win points.

  5. 5

    archaiccolloquialA bankruptcy.

  6. 6

    archaiccolloquialA disaster; a bad situation.

  7. 7

    A mashed foodstuff.

  8. 8

    A kind of julep cocktail containing chunks of fresh fruit that can be eaten after finishing the drink.

verb

  1. 1

    To break (something brittle) violently.

    The demolition team smashed the buildings to rubble.

  2. 2

    To be destroyed by being smashed.

    The crockery smashed as it hit the floor.

  3. 3

    To hit extremely hard.

    He smashed his head against the table.

  4. 4

    To ruin completely and suddenly.

    The news smashed any hopes of a reunion.

  5. 5

    To defeat overwhelmingly; to gain a comprehensive success over.

    The Indians smashed the Yankees 22-0.

  6. 6

    USTo deform through continuous pressure.

    I slowly smashed the modeling clay flat with the palm of my hand.

  7. 7

    slangvulgarTo have sex with.

    Would you smash her?

  8. 8

    archaicslangSynonym of go to smash (“to go to ruin; to fail disastrously”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Smash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanKrachen (sound of a violent impact), Wucht (colloquial: something very successful), zerschellen, zerschmettern, zertrümmern, zerbrechen ((transitive) to break violently)
Portugueseestrondo (sound of a violent impact), destroçar, esmagar ((transitive) to break violently), batida (colloquial: traffic accident), smash (in tennis), golpear (to hit extremely hard)
Frenchfracasser ((transitive) to break violently), smash (in tennis), percuter (to hit extremely hard), écraser (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly)
Spanishestrellar, destrozar, machucar, machacar, majar ((transitive) to break violently), smash (in tennis)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does smash come from?

Uncertain, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after smash