1833, "violently crushing to pieces," present-participle adjective from smash (v.). Meaning "pleasing, sensational" is from 1911. Related: Smashingly.
Entries linking to smashing
smash v.
1759, transitive, "break to pieces," earlier "kick downstairs" (c. 1700), probably of imitative origin (compare smack (v.), mash (v.), crush (v.)). The intransitive meaning "act with crushing force" is from 1813; the transitive sense of "strike violently" is from 1835. Tennis sense is from 1882. Smash-and-grab (adj.) as a type of burglary or robbery is attested from 1927.