alec
noun
a herring.
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halec.
alec
1 American
[al-ik]
/ ˈæl ɪk /
noun
Obsolete.
-
a herring.
-
a sauce or relish made from small herring or anchovies.
alec
2
American
[al-ik]
/ ˈæl ɪk /
noun
Australian.
Alec
3
American
[al-ik]
/ ˈæl ɪk /
Or
Aleck
noun
Etymology
Origin of alec1
1510–20; < Latin ( h ) al ( l ) ec fish sauce
Origin of alec2
1920–25; cf. smart aleck ( def. ); sense shift perhaps originally from ironic usage
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.
See Examples For:
Sometimes Alex is a smart alec: the chapter sending up his academy school and peer group reads like the revenge of the nerd.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 15, 2013
Obviously a smart alec statement, insinuating that Mooney talked for publicity's sake alone, instead of for a cause in which he sincerely believes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Seneca reproaches them with this refinement of cruelty—“Oculis quoque gulosi sunt;” and the most renowned of Apicius’s culinary discoveries was the alec, a compound of their livers.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen
Hootsey could not be sure if Nibbles was being a "smart alec" or was just paying him a complement.
From The Forest Monster of Oz by Bob Evans
She performed in radio productions such as The Archers and an adaptation of John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, opposite Sir Alec Guinness.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Alec Ginsberg, a fourth-generation pharmacist who owns C.O.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
In a statement, the couple said they named their son Alec Neel Vance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
She starred in films alongside Alec Guinness, Fred Astaire and Peter O'Toole and appeared in musicals in New York and London.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Alec had backed away from the window, his face as pale a thing as Mark had ever seen.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
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.
