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Smart
Is an adjective 'smart' ever being used in the meaning of 'beautiful'?
Thank you!
16. Juni 2019 15:19
Antworten · 15
3
Collins online dictionary
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/smart
smart
1. adjective
Smart people and things are pleasantly neat and clean in appearance.
[mainly British]
He was smart and well groomed but not good looking.
I was dressed in a smart navy blue suit.
...smart new offices.
Synonyms: chic, trim, neat, fashionable More Synonyms of smart
smartly adverb [ADVERB with verb]
He dressed very smartly which was important in those days.
...a smartly-painted door.
16. Juni 2019
1
No, 'smart' doesn't mean 'beautiful' in any form of English.
In British English, 'smart' is a way of dressing. As in Chris's dictionary definition, it relates to being neat and well-groomed. For a man, dressing smartly would involve a well-cut suit, shirt and tie, with polished leather shoes; for a woman, it would be a stylish dress/skirt or trousers, sheer tights, high heels etc. Many businesses require their staff to be smartly dressed for work.
There's also a category of dressing known as 'smart casual'. For a man, this might be something like chinos with an open-necked shirt and loafers.
'Smart' can also refer to things, such as a smart new car or a smart new building. The connotation here is that they look good and are reasonably expensive, such as a shiny, hi-spec car or an elegant office building.
[Just curious. How would American speakers refer to these ideas? 'Smart' seems to be such a handy all-purpose word.]
16. Juni 2019
1
As an American, although I've used the adjective, "smart," before to refer to a person's style of dress, I've used it as a Britishism.
To answer Su.Ki.'s question: I imagine that most of the other adjectives we use would be shared among English speakers.
For a man, the adjective "sharp" comes to mind. ZZ Top put their American spin on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw.
For inanimate things like offices and cars, "sleek" is a good word.
Lately, I'll hear the slang, "bougie" for both people and things. This is more of a pejorative word, when you want to give a subtle dig to whatever you are describing.
18. Juni 2019
Thank you Liz! Sometimes I make compliments to the men on the social nets calling them smart. I mean clever, but I am not sure what do they think... I saw once a British man called himself smart because he put on a nice new suit.
16. Juni 2019
I am from the US, but I believe that in the UK they sometimes use "smart" to mean "elegant" or "stylish." Example: "She was wearing a smart outfit."
16. Juni 2019
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