sass
1 Americannoun
-
stewed fruit; fruit sauce.
-
fresh vegetables.
noun
verb (used with object)
-
sasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sassed,
past participle, past
-
sassing
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sasssimple
-
sassessimple
-
have sassedperfect
-
has sassedperfect
-
am sassingprogressive
-
are sassingprogressive
-
is sassingprogressive
-
have been sassingperfect progressive
-
has been sassingperfect progressive
Past
-
sassedsimple
-
had sassedperfect
-
was sassingprogressive
-
were sassingprogressive
-
had been sassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sass1
First recorded in 1765–75; variant of sauce
Origin of sass2
1855–60, back formation from sassy 1
Explanation
Sass is a smart alecky or impudent reply. Your middle school teacher might warn you that once you get to high school, they won't put up with your sass. Use sass as a noun — or a verb, meaning to talk in a cheeky way: "Don't you dare sass your grandmother!" When someone teases you or speaks in an almost rude manner, they give you sass. This word emerged in the 19th century from the adjective sassy, which began as a variation on saucy, from the idea that words can be zesty, sharp, or spicy.
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:
House Democrats were furious, and sass was thrown around freely.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
I had long admired her, especially the rollicking and indispensable “Slow Days, Fast Company,” first published in 1977, a charming and insightful series of stories bursting with pluck and sass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Sung by Dara, a proven pop star with a clutch of Top 10 singles, it's brilliantly unhinged and full of sass.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Allison’s Angélique is just as much a standout, renewing the bawdy earthiness of Shakespeare’s nurse with contemporary sass and rousing singing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025
"Don't give me sass, boy. You think I can’t see?"
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
"Witty remarks won't make a difference," Sansa sasses, but she soothes the burn by telling him, quite tenderly, that he was the best of all her husbands.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2019
Even as she eye-rolls and sasses Christian, there is no demand with which she ultimately declines to comply, from skipping out on her work trip to committing to spend her life at his side.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2017
So instead, we get the lumpy neo-reggae of “Unapologetic Bitch,” in which she sasses a boy-toy: “See you trying to call me, but I blocked you on my phone.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2015
She sasses her angry mom, cruises the mall with her girlfriends and dreams of a boy who will hold her close and sing to her.
From Time Magazine Archive
De oberseer sasses de marster some more, an' den I sees de marster fairly loose his temper for de first time.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, North Carolina Narratives, Part 1 by Various
Mr. Ghesquière’s modern-day stray cats had patchwork jackets sassed up with leopard print, but also great tailored pieces, like cocooning, almost corseted-looking blazers.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2017
Another sassed, “If you have to ask ..you havnt done it properly..LOL.”
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2014
She sassed the audience until it talked back.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2010
Jay Leno will be sociably sassed by fellow TV staples as he accepts the Kennedy Center’s 17th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct.
From Washington Post
I sassed her and had to stay down in the cabin for the rest of the picnic.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa easily nailed a mix of Coachella cool and K-pop razzle-dazzle, stomping and sassing beneath a towering temple roof and making the most of the gigantic stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
Lee steals every scene she's in, whether she's wordlessly transfixed by pulling a thread taut between her fingers or sassing a religious game player.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2021
“If you took a family photo right now, you got Grandma with an oxygen tank, probably sassing the photographer.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2016
Varys tries sassing her, which backfires: she elevates the art of eunuch-taunting to a level that should make Tyrion feel ashamed.
From The New Yorker ● May 23, 2016
Not exactly sassing back, but just about nearly.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
