(n.) A slight, superficial knowledge of something; sciolism.
Example Sentences:
(1) The debut of the film – before an audience of business journalists, film critics and a smattering of Wonga customers – comes before a grilling by MPs in Westminster on Tuesday as calls grow for tighter curbs on payday lenders.
(2) The trophic value of a food cannot be ascertained from food composition tables because only a smattering of the necessary information is commonly furnished.
(3) They've heard the views of a smattering of North Kivu's humanitarians, politicians, businessmen, civil society types and militia leaders.
(4) Nothing but plain text and links, it features a smattering of links from across the web as well as personal selections by various staff of active Kickstarter projects.
(5) As ever, there were a smattering of terrifyingly young GCSE students celebrating their successes.
(6) The village is a smattering of fishing shacks frequented by stray dogs and chickens; the sand is littered with sweet wrappers, water bottles, flip-flops and polystyrene food containers; the sea is cloudy from the dredging.
(7) In the face of such uncertainty, a smattering of refugees remained camped on the Hungarian border.
(8) There were MPs (Hilary Benn and family), a smattering of celebs, a lot of public sector workers, Unison stewards in smart purple smocks.
(9) Now the party, which has been dogged by allegations of financial mismanagement , has just a smattering of local councillors, and experts say that by May the UK could be "BNP-free" for the first time in a decade if Griffin fails to retain his seat in the European parliamentary elections.
(10) Its existing city centre has a smattering of empty shops at the foot of neglected Victorian buildings, and is noticeably short on big chains.
(11) That may represent a tiny fraction of the industry’s estimated sales of recorded music, but still, a means of listening to music essentially invented in the 19th century and long since presumed to be dead is growing at speed, and the presses at Optimal – along with similar facilities smattered across the UK, mainland Europe, the US and beyond – are set to grind and pump on, into the future.
(12) Many heartland supporters have already defected, and a smattering of leading trade unionists and Labour socialists have professed reluctant support for yes.
(13) Now they are smattered with artists' showrooms and craft workshops.
(14) It’s like a real-life computer game, with the extra dramatic dimension that if you crash you can’t just reboot,” he said, as a smattering of drone groupies pressed up against the barriers to eavesdrop on their hero.
(15) The former Murdoch editors Andrew Neil, David Yelland, Harold Evans and Colin Myler were all criticised personally, as were a smattering of lawyers such as Tom Crone .
(16) ‘Like the poshest hostage video ever’: our columnists on the Queen’s speech | Panel Read more The programme was also smattered with consumer-friendly pledges, from rolling out high-speed broadband nationwide and making it easier to switch energy supplier, to allowing local authorities to force bus firms to run more frequent services.
(17) There was a smattering of boos from the home supporters who had stayed to the final whistle.
(18) His grandmother was a leading communist, his father, Edward, a Labour voter and assistant director of education for West Sussex (before piggybacking on his son's success to become a well known broadcaster in his own right) while Enfield has always been a bit of a political maverick – liberal with a smattering of Catholic conservatism (though he's pretty much had it with God), and libertarianism (he loves a good hunt).
(19) Such is the "Red" part of his thinking, and the reason why his smattering of Tory fans often seem to be far outnumbered by hostile Thatcherites; as one Labour figure recently put it, "a Red Tory revolution would certainly need much blue blood to be spilled."
(20) I’d say to all of you please, judge us by our performance, not by our titles.” Abbott’s speech, which drew a smattering of applause from the audience, provoked a mixed reaction.