wise-ass
Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of wise-ass
First recorded in 1970–75
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.
But initially, I was trying to fit in, to make myself some kind of snarky wise-ass.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2019
This must have been where the exile story started: Buckner chased west by one wise-ass too many.
From The New Yorker • May 28, 2019
As Chris Turner points out in his book Planet Simpson, the show’s wise-ass tone actively invited this kind of sarcastic commentary.
From Slate • Sep. 26, 2013
As the music strikes up, and the book’s characters are introduced in comic buffo style, you wonder if you’re in for a meal of wise-ass lit-lampoonery.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2013
Jack was an idealised version of the wise-ass street-urchin fantasy they had of themselves.
From The Guardian • Aug. 6, 2010
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.
