Synonyms

smart aleck

American

[smahrt al-ik] / ˈsmɑrt ˌæl ɪk /

Or smart alec

noun

Informal.

wise guy.

smart aleck British

/ ˈælɪk /

noun

informal an irritatingly oversmart 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

smart aleck Idioms

An impudent or obnoxiously self-assertive individual, a wise guy, as in New teachers often have a hard time coping with the smart alecks in their classes. This expression, dating from the mid-1800s, probably alluded to a person of this description who was named Alec or Alexander, but his identity has been lost.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of smart aleck

An Americanism first recorded in 1860–65; generic use of Aleck, nickname for Alexander

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:

smart aleck

He’s a pint-sized smart aleck who cares deeply for Dunk.

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026

I’m a kid that grew up in Hollywood, and I went to Baghdad wearing a Metallica shirt and I was a total smart aleck.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2025

She’s still a downbeat smart aleck, but she can make you cry without appearing to do very much.

From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2018

“If what you get from watching ‘Jessica Jones’ is that she is a smart aleck detective who is solving crime, great,” Mr. Loeb added.

From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2018

And if you tell ’em you knew a witty boy, you gotta tell ’em he was kind of a smart aleck, though, or a wise guy.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023