smack dab
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of smack dab
First recorded in 1890–95; smack 2 ( def. ) (in the sense “directly, straight”) + dab 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “a quick, light blow,” used adverbially)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We don’t want to live in fear, so we make ourselves useful working for organizations that move the scale away from fear and put us smack dab in the middle of love.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2025
We’re smack dab in the middle of 2010 again.
From Salon • Feb. 5, 2025
Sanders has the Buffaloes smack dab in the center of the college football universe this week courtesy a 45-42 win at then-No.
From Washington Times • Sep. 5, 2023
“This is smack dab in the middle of the growing season so anything that was ready to harvest was pulled. Whatever was left was lost,” Guild said.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2023
I cracked it open, smack dab in the middle.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
