smashing
adj. · n.-
1 wonderful (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediate British English Informalvery good, wonderful, or impressive.
denoting excellence or high quality; primarily used as a predicative or attributive adjective in British English.
ExampleWe had a smashing time at the party last night.
ExampleThe critics agreed that her performance was absolutely smashing, marking a triumphant return to the West End stage.
UsageCommonly used with 'time', 'idea', or 'job'.
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2 breaking into pieces (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatethe act of breaking something brittle, like glass, into many small pieces.
the action of violently breaking or shattering a brittle object into fragments.
ExampleThe sudden smashing of glass in the kitchen woke everyone up.
ExampleThe investigation focused on the deliberate smashing of the shop windows during the midnight protests.
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3 sexual intercourse (n.) C1 Advanced Slang Vulgara very informal and rude way to talk about having sex.
an act of sexual intercourse; highly informal and potentially offensive depending on the social context.
ExampleHe made a crude joke about smashing after the date.
ExampleThe lyrics were criticized for their repetitive references to smashing, which many found unnecessarily graphic for a pop song.
Teacher's tipThis sense is highly informal and can be seen as disrespectful or objectifying; learners should avoid using it in most social settings.
- shagging
- screwing
From smash + -ing. As a synonym for wonderful, the term first appeared in the United States in the early twentieth century, and possibly derives from the sense of smash used in smash hit and similar terms. Popular folk etymology connects the term to the broadly homophonous Irish is maith sin or Scottish Gaelic 's math sin ("that is good"), but this has been described as "improbable", and does not appear in the etymological dictionaries.