smooth over

phrasal verb

smoothed over; smoothing over; smooths over also smoothes over

: to make (a disagreement, problem, difficulty, etc.) seem less serious than it really is

Don't worry about missing the application deadline—we'll smooth that over with the office.

She smoothed over the objections to his candidacy.

Examples of smooth over in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The voice memo, lasting more than six minutes, paints a picture of an empathetic director trying to smooth over any hurt feelings Lively felt regarding his response to her suggested rewrites of a key opening scene by apologizing profusely. —Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Biden tried to smooth over rough patches between Carter and foreign leaders, particularly the prickly German chancellor. —Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 30 Dec. 2024

Historically, the Federal Reserve has stepped in quickly to smooth over any threats to financial stability, such as when then-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan stepped in after the stock market crash of 1987. —Sarah Min, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025

Those are difficult issues politically amongst clubs, one that a cap could help smooth over. —Evan Drellich, The Athletic, 6 Feb. 2025

Rhymes for smooth over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover