The Meaning of Smol: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of smol? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word smol, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word smol mean?

According to Dictionary, Urban Dictionary, and 7 ESL,  the word smol is a variant on the word small. It describes someone or something that is small, tiny, and adorable. This is often used in the phrase smol bean, which is someone – usually a celebrity, musician, or famous person – who is small and precious. This abbreviation is commonly used in everyday conversations in the chat section of social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and the now-dead Vine. This term was originally used to describe puppies and kittens, but has become very popular to use to describe a celebrity crush. Tumblr posts would often feature GIFs of different celebrities denoting them as a smol bean. Small has a similar pronunciation to smol, though the o is emphasized in the word smol, which rhymes with the word “mole.” One might refer to a celeb as a smol bean rather than their first name or last name. 

What is the origin of the word smol?

While the exact origin of smol is unknown, it is likely that smol began to be used when other cutesy misspellings began to be used on the internet, like moar or the deliberately broken grammar of Doge. This word first appeared on Twitter in 2008, but rose to popularity in the mid-2010s with the advent of DoggoLingo, which is a playful animal-loving set of online slang terms. Even Buzzfeed used the word smol in the May 2015 article “20 Baby Animals Who Are Too Smol.” The term smol bean began to be used in March 2015 on Twitter and gained further traction on blogs like Tumblr, on which people began referring to celebrities as beans and smol beans regardless of size. Twenty One Pilots fans lost their minds when Tyler Joseph, the lead singer of the band, canonized the nickname with his tweet, “I am a bean” in June 2015. As language develops, new questions emerge with complex answers. These types of general questions become more complicated as language evolves on the internet, and have longer answers.

How can the word smol be used in a sentence?

The word smol can be used in many different ways to describe something that is cute. This can be used for anything from a tiny kitten to a celebrity flame. This word is very casual and should only be used in informal contexts such as SMS text message conversations, in memes, or on social media. The word smol is not appropriate to use in formal or professional settings such as business emails, letters, or other less casual settings. In this first example, it is Christmas morning. Della texts her friend Gena.

Della: Merry Christmas! How is ur Christmas morning!

Gena: OMG it’s amazing! Look at this little guy!

[Gena sends a photo of a small puppy in a red boy tie.]

Della: OMG WHAT A SMOL BEAN. Do you guys have a name picked out?

Gena: Yes, his name is Crouton!

Della: I can’t! So cute!!

Here, Della refers to the young puppy as a smol bean. He is cute and cuddly. In this next example, Della and Gena are talking about their celebrity crushes over SMS text message.

Gena: I love Harry Styles sm. We should go to the concert when he comes to town!

Della: OMG me too, he’s such a smol bean. Love. And yes!! I’m down!

Gena: Yay!

Here, the girls refer to Harry Styles as a smol bean. They think he is cute and charming. The word smol can be used to describe many different things and is usually accompanied by the word bean. This word is very casual and should not be used in professional or formal settings because it can come across as juvenile and unprofessional. However, it is a fun word to use in texts or on social media. 

What are synonyms and antonyms for the word smol?

Since the word smol is a piece of internet slang, this means that it is not always appropriate to use in different situations. You should only use smol in casual conversations, and avoid it in formal or professional settings. Therefore, it is useful to know synonyms for the word smol. Synonyms are words and phrases that have the same definition as other words and phrases. These words are also useful to know if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself as well as if you are trying to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word smol is provided by Thesaurus

  •  unpretentious
  •  young
  •  humble
  •  diminutive
  •  paltry
  •  minute
  •  teeny
  •  piddling
  •  insufficient
  •  immature
  •  wee
  •  picayune
  •  minuscule
  •  inconsequential
  •  modest
  •  little
  •  stunted
  •  narrow
  •  petite
  •  short
  •  petty
  •  teensy
  •  baby
  •  trifling
  •  meager
  •  pitiful
  •  scanty
  •  poor
  •  puny
  •  pint-sized
  •  trivial
  •  scrubby
  •  limited
  •  miniature
  •  mini
  •  inconsiderable
  •  bitty
  •  bantam
  •  cramped
  •  small-scale
  •  slight
  •  pocket-sized
  •  inadequate
  •  undersized
  •  toy
  •  runty
  •  microscopic
  •  shrimp

There are also numerous different words that mean the opposite of the word smol. These opposite words are called antonyms. Learning antonyms is another great way to expand your vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word smol is also provided by Thesaurus

  •  huge
  •  enormous
  •  stuffed
  •  roomy
  •  walloping
  •  spacious
  •  oversize
  •  chock-full
  •  substantial
  •  tremendous
  •  awash
  •  big
  •  strapping
  •  a whale of a
  •  husky
  •  fat
  •  colossal
  •  hulking
  •  brimming
  •  ample
  •  prodigious
  •  heavyweight
  •  crowded
  •  humongous
  •  thundering
  •  voluminous
  •  full
  •  hate
  •  considerable
  •  large
  •  jumbo
  •  capacious
  •  ponderous
  •  mammoth
  •  extensive
  •  packed
  •  vast
  •  mondo
  •  gigantic
  •  burly
  •  bulky
  •  whopping
  •  commodious
  •  super colossal
  •  sizable
  •  massive
  •  heavy-duty
  •  great
  •  immense
  •  monster
  •  whopper
  •  hefty
  •  copious
  •  bull

Overall, the word smol

Sources:

  1. SMALL Synonyms: 164 Synonyms & Antonyms for SMALL | Thesaurus 
  2. BIG Synonyms: 226 Synonyms & Antonyms for BIG | Thesaurus 
  3. Smol | Urban Dictionary 
  4. “Smol” Meaning | How Do You Define the Interesting Slang Term ‘Smol’? | 7 ESL 
  5. Who uses smol? | Dictionary