smack

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /smæk/ UK /smæk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like smock /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Meanings

1

verb
to strike sharply with the open hand, or a sharp slapping blow

She gave the door a smack to close it firmly.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to strike sharply with the... slap hit strike whack cuff clout wallop

Opposites

caress stroke

Word family

Derived forms smacker

Etymology

Of imitative origin, akin to Middle Low German smacken and Dutch smakken ('to strike, smack'), echoing the sharp sound of a slap.

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# smack

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /smæk/
**IPA (UK):** /smæk/

## Meanings
1. to strike sharply with the open hand, or a sharp slapping blow

## Examples
- She gave the door a smack to close it firmly.

## Synonyms
- slap
- hit
- strike
- whack
- cuff
- clout
- wallop

## Antonyms
- caress
- stroke

## Derived Forms
- smacker

## Etymology
Of imitative origin, akin to Middle Low German smacken and Dutch smakken ('to strike, smack'), echoing the sharp sound of a slap.

## AI Etymology
Smack is of imitative origin, akin to Middle Low German smacken and Dutch smakken ('to strike, smack'), echoing the sharp sound of a slap. The quoted older sense, "to strike, smack," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for smack. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word smack carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to strike sharply with the open hand, or a sharp slapping blow". English derivatives include smacker. The result is a verb and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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