Meanings
smock1
plural smocks
- A type of undergarment worn by women; a shift or slip.
c. 1960s' (version), 14th century (originally published), Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Clerk's Prologue and Tale Before the folk herself stripped she, And in her smock, with foot and head all bare, Toward her father's house forth is she fare.
- A blouse; a smock frock.
And women were in that gabarre [boat]; whom the Red Nightcaps were stripping naked; who begged, in their agony, that their smocks might not be stript from them.
1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History - A loose garment worn as protection by a painter, etc.
- not comparableOf or pertaining to a smock; resembling a smock
- not comparableHence, of or pertaining to a woman.
present singular third person smocks · participle present smocking · participle past smocked · past smocked
Smock2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
smock · noun, adjective, verb
- Proto-Germanic*smukkaz“something slipped into”
- Old Englishsmocc
- Middle Englishsmok
- Englishsmock
From Middle English smok, from Old English smocc, smoc, from Proto-Germanic *smukkaz (“something slipped into”). Akin to Old High German smocho, Icelandic smokkur, and from the root of Old English smugan (“to creep”), akin to German schmiegen (“to cling to, press close”). Middle High German smiegen, Icelandic smjúga (“to creep through, to put on a garment which has a hole to put the head through”); compare with Lithuanian smukti (“to glide”). See also smug, smuggle.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Smock · proper noun
English surname, from the noun smock. See also Smoker.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian комбинезон, широка блуза
- комбинезон (kombinezon)undergarment
- широка блуза (široka bluza)a blouse
- работно облекло (rabotno obleklo)a loose garment worn as protection
Chinese Mandarin 罩衫
- 罩衫 (zhàoshān)a loose garment worn as protection
Czech spodnička, kombiné
- spodničkaundergarment
- kombinéundergarment
- halenaa blouse
- halenkaa blouse
- pracovní plášťa loose garment worn as protection
- šatová zástěraa loose garment worn as protection
Finnish pusakka
- pusakkaa blouse
French blouse, blouse
- blouseundergarment
- blousea blouse
- blousea loose garment worn as protection
Japanese 下着, 仕事着
- 下着 (shitagi)undergarment
- 仕事着 (shigotogi)a loose garment worn as protection
- スモック (sumokku)a loose garment worn as protection
Latin involucre
- involucreundergarment
Latvian halāts
- halātsa loose garment worn as protection
Polish kitel, bluza
- kitelundergarment
- bluzaa blouse
- kitela loose garment worn as protection
Portuguese avental, bata
- aventala loose garment worn as protection
- bataa loose garment worn as protection
Russian соро́чка, блу́зка
- соро́чкаundergarment
- блу́зка (blúzka)a blouse
- блу́за (blúza)a blouse
- блу́за (blúza)a loose garment worn as protection
- хала́тa loose garment worn as protection
- спецо́вка (specóvka)a loose garment worn as protection
Swedish blus, blus
- blusa blouse
- blusa loose garment worn as protection
Welsh crys, crys
- crysundergarment
- crysa blouse
- crysa loose garment worn as protection
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with smock
Cite this entry
smock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smock
“smock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smock. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smock,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smock.
Source: smock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.