Home > Synonyms > Synonyms for smite

Find the synonyms or antonyms of a word



Synonyms for smite

Grammar : Verb
Spell : smahyt
Phonetic Transcription : smaɪt

Top 10 synonyms for smite
Other synonyms for the word smite

Définition of smite

Origin :
  • "to hit, strike, beat," mid-12c., from Old English smitan, which however is attested only as "to daub, smear on; soil, pollute, blemish, defile" (strong verb, past tense smat, past participle smiten), from Proto-Germanic *smitan (cf. Swedish smita, Danish smide "to smear, fling," Old Frisian smita, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch smiten "to cast, fling," Dutch smijten "to throw," Old High German smizan "to rub, strike," German schmeißen "to cast, fling," Gothic bismeitan "to spread, smear"). "The development of the various senses is not quite clear, but that of throwing is perh. the original one" [OED]. Watkins suggests "the semantic channel may have been slapping mud on walls in wattle and daub construction" and connects it with PIE *sme- "to smear;" Klein's sources also say this.
  • Sense of "slay in combat" (c.1300) is from Biblical expression smite to death, first attested c.1200. Meaning "visit disastrously" is mid-12c., also Biblical. Meaning "strike with passion or emotion" is from c.1300.
  • verb destroy
Example sentences :
  • Here is a knave of a friar calleth me a mad priest, and yet I smite him not.
  • Extract from : « The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood » by Howard Pyle
  • If he break the law, any citizen not less than thirty years of age may smite him.
  • Extract from : « Laws » by Plato
  • The kiss seemed to Israel to smite his own cheeks like a blow.
  • Extract from : « The Scapegoat » by Hall Caine
  • The strength of the Prophet is within him thus to smite the unbelieving pigs.
  • Extract from : « The Sea-Hawk » by Raphael Sabatini
  • Seuthes, turning to the boy, asked, "Shall I smite him instead of you?"
  • Extract from : « Anabasis » by Xenophon
  • When Lionel saw this, he alighted from his horse to smite off his head.
  • Extract from : « Stories of King Arthur and His Knights » by U. Waldo Cutler
  • Frost draws near, intending “to smite her and to freeze her to death.”
  • Extract from : « Russian Fairy Tales » by W. R. S. Ralston
  • I expected Lorand to smite that fair mouth for this despicable calumny.
  • Extract from : « Debts of Honor » by Maurus Jkai
  • This action, ku'i, to smite, gave the name to the performance.
  • Extract from : « Unwritten Literature of Hawaii » by Nathaniel Bright Emerson
  • Ku'i (ku'i)--to smite; to beat; the name of a hula (p. 250).
  • Extract from : « Unwritten Literature of Hawaii » by Nathaniel Bright Emerson

Antonyms for smite

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019