Smart

_smart_

Noun.

Pronunciation: smɑːt

Plural: smarts.

Etymology: from Middle English smierte.

1. Smart pain, as from a blow, a sting, etc.

Translation: douleur, in French; dolor, in Spanish; dolore, in Italian.

Antonyms: pleasure, joy, delight, gladness, gratification, enjoyment, delectation.

*With the preposition of, followed by its object (a noun), by which the cause of the pain is designated:

It was after these things, and while I was crying out, more in anger than with the smart of the blow, that she called me into her closet and soothed me, giving me to eat of that much-prized sweetmeat she said was once such a favourite solace with Queen Mary of Modena, consort of the late King James, and which she only produced on rare occasions.

George Sala… The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous

The Tartars, therefore, were compelled to alight from their horses, which they fastened to the trees, and came boldly forewards on foot against the elephants, among whom they discharged immense quantities of arrows; so that the elephants, unable to endure the smart of their wounds, became unmanageable, and fled to the nearest wood, where they broke their castles, and overturned the armed men, with which they were filled.

Robert Kerr… Voyages and Travels, vol. I

2. Mental distress or suffering.

Synonyms: grief, sorrow, affliction.

*With the preposition of, followed by its object (a noun), by which the cause of the pain is designated:

[…] she had never felt the smart of what people called love.

William Prescott… History of the Reign of Philip the Second

[…] only the smart of the wind in our eyes hindered us.

Thomas Lawrence… Seven Pillars of Wisdom

 

The words smart (verb, adj., adv.), smarting, smarten, smarting, smartingly, smartish, smartism, smartless, smartly, smart-money, smartness, smarty, are of the same origin as smart (noun).