smarty-pants

[ smahr-tee-pants ]
See synonyms for smarty-pants on Thesaurus.com
noun(used with a singular verb)
  1. smart aleck: He's just a smarty-pants, showing off for some girls.

  2. a smart person: My kid is a super smarty-pants who continues to get 4s on her state exams.

  1. (used as a mildly abusive term of address or to refer to someone with contempt): Who invited that smarty-pants--everyone hates her!

Origin of smarty-pants

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Words Nearby smarty-pants

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use smarty-pants in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for smarty-pants

smarty-pants

smarty-boots (ˈsmɑːtɪˌbuːts)

/ (ˈsmɑːtɪˌpænts) /


noun
  1. (functioning as singular) informal a would-be clever person

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012