How to Use smooth over in a Sentence

smooth over

phrasal verb
  • The pair’s volatile chemistry helps to smooth over some of the script’s weak spots.
    Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 July 2023
  • The Flow tool simply filled in the missing bits, smoothing over the gap.
    PCMAG, 30 June 2024
  • Her life might have been better with you on the scene to smooth over the family’s rough dynamic.
    Amy Dickinson, Anchorage Daily News, 3 June 2023
  • The field finally came together when the red dirt was smoothed over and new white lines were painted.
    Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 17 July 2024
  • The surfeit of story also helps smooth over some glaring flaws.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 18 July 2024
  • After Dexter Wade's remains were exhumed, his gravesite in the pauper's field was smoothed over.
    Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Shouldn’t one of them be the kind of person who kept track of the procurement and deployment of such things, the tools that smoothed over life’s little discomforts?
    Emma Cline, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
  • The Trinity includes microcurrents and a ball design to smooth over and target large areas of the face.
    Isabella Ubaldi, Health, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Ballet had already taught her how to marshal control over her gestures, to smooth over her pain for the sake of appearance.
    Hannah Zeavin, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Each sip is smoothed over with a layer of cool, sweet foam, then topped with Lay’s sweet and spicy honey potato chips for a playful crunch and a spicy adventure.
    Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 June 2024
  • Numerous businesses say that, three months out, such disputes should have been long smoothed over.
    Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
  • Just piece them together to create continuous lines, as they will be smoothed over in rolling.
    Alana Allred, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
  • If directly seeding into the bed, pull back the mulch layer and smooth over the surface layer with a rake before seeding.
    oregonlive, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Star was irritatingly handsome, with a smile that smoothed over any and every slight.
    Dan Musgrave, Longreads, 9 May 2023
  • The formula is slightly thicker than water and performs best when smoothed over slightly damp skin to lock in moisture.
    Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 23 Oct. 2023
  • It can also be smoothed over areas with stretch marks to minimize their appearance.
    Jenny Berg, Vogue, 24 Feb. 2024
  • It can also be smoothed over areas with stretch marks to minimize their appearance.
    Jenny Berg, Vogue, 23 July 2024
  • Two Biden campaign officials held a call Wednesday night with a group of Nikki Haley supporters to try to smooth over the post-debate chaos.
    Stef W. Kight, Axios, 11 July 2024
  • Ditching Eye Cream While eye creams are great at smoothing over dry skin and temporarily plumping out fine lines and wrinkles, that's pretty much it.
    Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 21 Feb. 2024
  • What separates these drops from the crowd is the inclusion of niacinamide and dual molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which pull their weight to even the skin tone, smooth over fine lines, and give the skin a more youthful glow.
    Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Damage control calls for a fake relationship to smooth over this mess until election day.
    USA TODAY, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Its smoothing fabric is made from a polyester, spandex, and nylon blend, which offers sturdy support while smoothing over lines on your back.
    Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024
  • In the Northeast region of North America in the 17th and 18th centuries, indigenous groups used captives as gifts to create alliances or smooth over disputes.
    Catherine M. Cameron, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2017
  • Pressures faced by lower-income consumers have been smoothed over by robust spending from the middle- and higher-income cohort.
    Sarah Min, CNBC, 12 July 2024
  • Sugar itself is the ultimate sanitizer, the pure white powder that smooths over so much darkness.
    Curbed, 27 Sep. 2023
  • What this ambiguity smoothed over was that the two sides to the conflict placed different and incompatible bets on the future.
    Henry Farrell, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Away from the base model, though, a range of standard and optional luxury and tech amenities, plus that lively handling, smooth over most weaknesses.
    Jonathon Ramsey, Car and Driver, 14 June 2023
  • The simple headlights and slightly awkward proportions of the CC’s front end were smoothed over and refined, creating a new look for the brand — a design language that would go on to be the visual signature for Koenigseggs for years to come.
    Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 25 July 2024
  • This all seems a bit unlikely—a moment of crisis smoothed over in order to give the couple that shippers call Polin an unequivocally happy ending.
    Judy Berman, TIME, 14 June 2024
  • The moon’s harmonious connection to Jupiter smooths over drama and fosters supportive exchanges.
    USA TODAY, 4 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smooth over.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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