pert

¹ American  

[purt] / pɜrt /

adjective

perter, pertest

1. boldly forward in speech or behavior; impertinent; saucy.

   Synonyms:

   impudent, presumptuous

2. jaunty and stylish; chic; natty.

3. lively; sprightly; in good health.

4. Obsolete. clever.

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PERT ² American  

[purt] / pɜrt /

noun

1. a management method of controlling and analyzing a system or program using periodic time and money reports, often computer generated, to determine dollar and labor status at any given time.

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pert. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. pertaining.

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pert ¹ British  

/ pɜːt /

adjective

1. saucy, impudent, or forward

2. jaunty

   a pert little hat

3. obsolete clever or brisk

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PERT ² British  

/ pɜːt /

acronym

1. programme evaluation and review technique

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Other Word Forms

• pertly adverb
• pertness noun

Etymology

Origin of pert¹

1200–50; Middle English, aphetic variant of apert < Old French < Latin apertus open (past participle of aperīre; aperient ); in Middle English and Old French, influenced by Old French aspert < Latin expertus expert

Origin of PERT²

P(rogram) E(valuation and) R(eview) T(echnique)

Explanation

This sassy little adjective pert is lively and bold, like your pert best friend who storms in and demands to borrow your favorite jacket. Although pert is found inside its synonym impertinent, "rudely bold," pert can also mean stylish, like that pert fedora cocked at a jaunty angle. Someone healthy and bright-eyed is pert, too. You might be pert after a strong cup of coffee and a pep talk, or after a visit from the celebrity stylist. Although pert has been around since the 1300s — from Middle English, “unconcealed, bold” — it is also the name of a shampoo that embraces all shades of meaning of this four-letter word.

Example Sentences

Produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by his frequent collaborator Samson Raphaelson, this Paramount picture, running a pert 82 minutes, positively shimmers with wit and sizzles with innuendo.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Boonbunchachoke’s strange and funny script is constructed of multiple nesting stories, like how my own vacuum pops out a pert little dustbuster that really digs into the cracks.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026

Smug, as we use it as a synonym for conceited or self-righteous, emerged from its earlier sense of “neat and trim,” which is exactly the ideal of a pert bump.

From Slate • Jul. 21, 2025

She makes precise choices in pert, clever sentences.

From New York Times • May 23, 2023

She was sort of sagging into the couch and the remote in her hand wasn’t quite as pert.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx