Jump To:

• smart ass
  smart ass

  noun

  a wise guy; know-it-all.
• smart-ass
  smart-ass

  adjective

  Also smart-assed, smartassed characteristic of a smart ass or wise guy.

smart ass

¹ American  

Also smartass

noun

Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.

1. a wise guy; know-it-all.

---

smart-ass ² American  

[smahrt-as] / ˈsmɑrtˌæs /

adjective

1. Also smart-assed, smartassed characteristic of a smart ass or wise guy.

---

noun

smart-asses plural

1. smart ass.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• smart-asses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of smart ass¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Origin of smart-ass²

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smart ass smart-ass smart-asses

And my smart ass would tell him that he wasn’t going to drop 81 points within the first 10 minutes of the game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2020

Sorry I'm late to this & not trying to be smart ass, but seriously what is a "legislation approval"? Huh?

From Washington Post ● Oct. 23, 2017

I let that delusion go when I was about 15, but the recent case of the Indian couple who had their first child in their 70s put me in a smart ass mood.

From The Guardian ● May 28, 2016

So when he arrived halfway through last night’s Emmy Awards to inject some much-needed smart ass humor into what was otherwise a three-hour layover of recycled Matthew McConaughey jokes, why wouldn’t we be excited?

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2014

Look, sure we all love a smart ass, Han was always cooler than Luke, Logan will always be cooler than Cyclops etc etc etc and so it goes.

From Time ● May 3, 2013

I think there was one, “You get a free coffin with every patient” or something — smart-ass cutting remarks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2022

The 58-year-old Pitt, Collin stressed, was "badly miscast" as the movie's "motor-mouthing smart-ass" leading man.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2022

I think this was Albert’s greatest influence on sports broadcasting: his smart smart-ass approach.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2021

His belligerent, bleating, entitled, prevaricating, smart-ass Jock Culture posturing reminded me of the boys I had been trying to dodge all my life and, in the end, couldn’t help writing about.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2018

“Happy graduation, baby,” Malcolm, the smart-ass, repeats, and hugs her, too.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Lucas was blasted by everyone from smart-asses in Ain’t It Cool News’ comments section to Red Letter Media’s Mr. Plinkett, who showed, excruciatingly and shot by shot, how Lucas had screwed up.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 4, 2016