smoothness

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noun

The condition of being smooth; the degree or measure of said condition.

“Smoothness can vary from 0 (for a nondifferentiable function) to infinity (for a smooth function).”

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounsmoothness (countable and uncountable, plural smoothnesses)

plural smoothnesses

  1. countableuncountableThe condition of being smooth; the degree or measure of said condition.

    With it,^([a pavement profile]) paving operations can be adjusted "on the fly" to maintain or improve smoothness.

    2013, Robert Otto Rasmussen, “et al.”, in Real-time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction, Transportation Research Board, page 3
    2 more examples

    The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order.

    1946 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 213

    The ‘smoothness’ of distributions can be understood in various senses, this is why we used quotation marks before; further we will drop them. The smoothness can be understood as the differentiability of the distribution function, boundedness of some of its derivatives, the existence of the absolutely continuous component, the decrease of the characteristic function with a certain rate, the validity of the Cramér condition, the condition #92;sigma(#92;Phi)#92;rightarrow 0 as n#92;rightarrow#92;infty, etc.

    1998, Vladimir V. Senatov, Normal Approximation: New Results, Methods and Problems, Walter de Gruyter (VSP), page 32
  2. countableuncountablemathematical analysisThe highest order of derivative (the differentiability class) over a given domain.

    Smoothness can vary from 0 (for a nondifferentiable function) to infinity (for a smooth function).

  3. countableuncountableapproximation theory; numerical analysis; approximation theory; numerical analysisThe quantity measured by the modulus of smoothness.
    1 more example

    A central problem in approximation theory is to characterize the best approximation of a function by polynomials, or other classes of simple functions, in terms of the smoothness of the function. In this chapter, we study the characterization of the best approximation by polynomials on the sphere. In the classical setting of one variable, the smoothness of a function on #92;mathbbS¹ is described by the modulus of smoothness, defined by the forward difference.

    2013, Feng Dai, Yuan Xu, Approximation Theory and Harmonic Analysis on Spheres and Balls, Springer, page 79

Synonyms & antonyms

antonym(s) of “condition of being smooth”

nouna texture without roughness; smooth to the touch

Opposite
Broader

nounpowerful and effective language

Broader
expressive stylestyle

nounthe quality of being bland and gracious or ingratiating in manner

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishsmothenesse
  2. Englishsmoothness

From Middle English smothenesse; equivalent to smooth + -ness. Compare Old English smēþnes (“smoothness, a smooth place, a level surface”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian гладкост
  • гладкост (gladkost)condition of being smooth
Dutch gladheid
  • gladheidcondition of being smooth
Finnish pehmeys, tasaisuus
  • pehmeyscondition of being smooth
  • tasaisuuscondition of being smooth
  • sileyscondition of being smooth
  • sileysquantitative measure of how smooth a function is
German Glätte
  • Glättecondition of being smooth
Hindi चिकनाई
  • चिकनाई (ciknāī)condition of being smooth
Hungarian simaság
  • simaságcondition of being smooth
Italian levigatezza
  • levigatezzacondition of being smooth
Latin lēvitās
  • lēvitāscondition of being smooth
Latvian gludums
  • gludumscondition of being smooth
Polish gładkość
  • gładkośćcondition of being smooth
Portuguese suavidade
  • suavidadecondition of being smooth
Russian гла́дкость
  • гла́дкость (gládkostʹ)condition of being smooth
Swahili ulaini
  • ulainicondition of being smooth
Ukrainian гла́дкість
  • гла́дкість (hládkistʹ)condition of being smooth
Cite this entry
APA

smoothness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smoothness

MLA

“smoothness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smoothness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smoothness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smoothness.

Source: smoothness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.