smitten
/smait/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Deeply affected by love or attraction: Feeling a sudden, powerful, and often overwhelming affection or infatuation for someone.
- Affected by something overwhelming: Struck or afflicted by a powerful force, emotion, or condition.
Usage
- As an adjective describing a state of being:
- He was smitten with her from the moment they met.
- The entire town was smitten by grief after the tragedy.
- Often follows the verb 'to be' and is used with 'with' or 'by':
- She is completely smitten with her new puppy.
- They were smitten by the beauty of the landscape.
Examples
- Describing romantic infatuation:
- After their first date, Mark was utterly smitten.
- It was obvious to everyone that she was smitten with the charming stranger.
- Describing being struck by a powerful feeling or condition:
- The community was smitten with fear during the storm.
- He felt smitten by a sudden pang of guilt.
Advanced Usage
- In compound adjectives: The past participle 'smitten' can be combined with nouns to describe being affected by that specific thing. This usage is more formal or literary.
- Conscience-smitten, he confessed to his mistake. (Affected by a guilty conscience)
- They were awe-smitten by the grandeur of the ancient cathedral. (Overwhelmed by awe)
Variants and Related Words
- Smite (verb): The base verb from which 'smitten' is derived as a past participle. It means to strike sharply or to affect strongly.
- The hero will smite the dragon. (To strike)
- Her kindness smote his heart. (To affect emotionally)
Synonyms
- Infatuated: Possessed by a foolish or extravagant passion.
- Enamored: Filled with love and desire.
- Besotted: Strongly infatuated.
- Stricken: Deeply affected, as by emotion or trouble.
Related Idioms
- Smitten with: The most common construction to indicate the object of the strong affection or the cause of the overwhelming feeling.
- He was smitten with the idea of traveling the world.
- Smitten by: Used interchangeably with "smitten with," often to personify the cause.
- She was smitten by his witty sense of humor.
Adjective
- marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
- gaga over the rock group's new album
- he was infatuated with her
- (used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
- conscience-smitten
- awe-struck