- slight or superficial knowledge: a smattering of Latin
- a small number or amount
Origin of smattering
smatter + -ing
Will and Maureen know a smattering of Thai words which has proven to be helpful while they travel through Thailand.
- When you know only a handful of French words here and there, this is when you know a smattering of French.
- When there are a few limited people in an audience applauding but most people are quiet, this is an example of a smattering of applause.
The definition of a smattering is a small amount of something or a superficial knowledge of something.
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smattering
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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smattering
noun
- A superficial knowledge of something, especially a language: I picked up a smattering of German while on vacation in Germany.
- A small, scattered amount or number: a smattering of raindrops.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Smattering." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Smattering.
APA Style
Smattering. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Smattering
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Smattering." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Smattering.
APA Style
Smattering. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Smattering
Sentence Examples
- He spoke a smattering of words she didn't understand.
- At odd hours of lessons she picked up a smattering of Latin, music and natural science, but most days were holidays and spent in country rambles and games with village children.
- The kings choice, however, fell on Hajji Mirza Aghasi, a native of Erivan, who in former years, as tutor to the Sons of Abbas Mirza, had gained a certain reputation for learning and a smattering of the occult sciences, but whose qualifications for statesmanship were craftiness and suspicion.
- Here congregated hundreds of the younger szlachta, fresh from their school benches, whence they brought nothing but a smattering of Latin and a determination to make their way by absolute subservience to their "elder brethren," the pans.
- There is a smattering of delectable eateries in this scenic locale.
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