Word
smack
US/ˈsmæk/
UK/smˈæk/
Definitions
01to hit
B2 · Upper Intermediate
v. to hit someone or something with the flat part of your hand.
v. to strike someone or something with a sharp blow, typically using the palm of the hand.
“He accidentally smacked his head against the low shelf while standing up.”
“The waves smacked against the side of the wooden pier with surprising force as the storm rolled in from the coast.”
02a sharp blow
B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun
n. the act or sound of hitting something with your hand.
n. a sharp, resounding blow or the specific sound produced by such an impact.
“We heard the loud smack of the ball hitting the wall.”
“The book fell onto the hardwood floor with a loud smack, startling everyone in the quiet library.”
03heroin
C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Slang
n. a slang name for the illegal drug heroin.
n. a slang term for heroin. Uncountable in this sense.
“The documentary explored the lives of people addicted to smack in the 1970s.”
“Undercover officers were focused on disrupting the local distribution of smack and other Class A substances.”
04a loud kiss
C1 · Advanced Countable noun Informal
n. a loud kiss made by pressing the lips together and then opening them quickly.
n. a loud, audible kiss, or the sound produced by such a kiss.
“She gave her grandson a big smack on the cheek.”
“The aunt greeted each of her nephews with a noisy smack on the forehead before ushering them into the house.”
Synonyms
05exactly or directly
B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal
adv. exactly in a certain place or directly against something.
adv. directly, squarely, or precisely; often used to describe a physical collision or a specific location.
“The ball landed smack in the middle of the flower bed.”
“The cyclist rode smack into the back of a parked van because he was looking at his phone.”
06computing stack
C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Computing Technical
n. a set of software tools used to handle large amounts of data.
n. An acronym for a data processing stack consisting of Spark, Mesos, Akka, Cassandra, and Kafka.
“The engineering team decided to use the SMACK stack for their new real-time analytics project.”
“Implementing the SMACK stack allowed the company to process millions of events per second with high availability and fault tolerance.”
Usage
Usually written in all caps as SMACK.
Real-World Examples
“Atta forced a save from Lorenzo Palmisani, before Mastantuono and Valdepeñas smacked shots against the left post.” “The cocoa flavor is rich and delightful, with only a mild smack of “diet” flavor from the “steviol glycocides” hitting on the finish.” “These environments will make you want to eat, and ideas of what to cook will smack you between the eyes.” Etymology
The noun is from Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæċċ (“taste, smatch”), from Proto-West Germanic smakku, from Proto-Germanic smakkuz (“a taste”), from Proto-Indo-European smegʰ-, smeg- (“to taste”). The verb is from Middle English smaken. Cognate with English dialectal smatch, Scots smak (“scent, smell, taste, flavour”), Saterland Frisian Smoak (“taste”), West Frisian smaak (“taste”), Dutch smaak (“taste”), German Schmack, Geschmack (“taste”), Danish smag (“taste”), Swedish and Norwegian smak (“taste”), Norwegian smekke . Akin to Old English smæċċan (“to taste, smack”). More at smatch.
From Middle Low German smack (Low German Schmacke, Schmaake (“small ship”)) or Dutch smak, perhaps ultimately related to smakken, imitative of the sails' noise.
From Middle English smakken, from Middle Dutch smacken (modern Dutch smakken (“to smack, pop, hurl down, crash”)), from Old Dutch smakkon, from Proto-West Germanic *smak(k)ōn, ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate West Frisian smakke, Middle Low German smacken (“to hit, hurl, fling”), Plautdietsch schmaksen (“to smack the lips”), German schmatzen (“eat noisily”), regional German schmacken, Schmackes (“vigour”) (compare Swedish smak (“slap”), the first part of Saterland Frisian smakmuulje (“to smack, slap”)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
NOUN
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
- アルファベット
- 読み方の一覧 →
QR code
englishreference.com/q/smack