Meanings
- Approaching difficult situations slowly and methodically can lead to faster and more efficient outcomes.
Since bullets follow walls, we kept about three feet away from the sandy buildings and moved very deliberately. Not fast, but safe. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
2006 May 2, Jack Coughlin, Casey Kuhlman, Donald A. Davis, Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper, Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 1322 more examples
He slowed to a walk, keeping his aim steady as he pulled the trigger with metronomic regularity. The words slow is smooth; smooth is fast ran through his mind as he found a stair down to lane level and moved into lane seventeen.
2014 October 14, Weston Ochse, Reign of Evil: A SEAL Team 666 Novel, Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 63If you rush through your steps in the pursuit of efficiency, you waste time if the proper sequence is lost. Splint the leg first, then transport back to the river bank. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
2015 July 15, Nate Ostis, NOLS River Rescue Guide, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 38
Origin
From marksmanship, where firing too quickly may lead to decreased accuracy.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
slow is smooth, smooth is fast. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slow%20is%20smooth%2C%20smooth%20is%20fast
“slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slow%20is%20smooth%2C%20smooth%20is%20fast. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “slow is smooth, smooth is fast,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slow%20is%20smooth%2C%20smooth%20is%20fast.
Source: slow is smooth, smooth is fast on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.