smart ass
noun
a wise guy; know-it-all.
smart ass
1 American
Also
smartass
noun
Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.
smart-ass
2
American
[smahrt-as]
/ ˈsmɑrtˌæs /
adjective
noun
smart-asses
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of smart ass1
First recorded in 1905–10
Origin of smart-ass2
First recorded in 1955–60
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:
I talked to Bob just a few days ago and he was his usual self, a smart ass, very sarcastic and quick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2022
“My smart ass would tell him,” Vanessa Bryant said, “that he wasn’t going to drop 81 points within the first 10 minutes of the game.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2020
“Being the rather smart ass that I was, I said Star Wars. She said: ‘Star Wars, hmm, that’s a great place to start.’
From The Guardian ● Feb. 11, 2020
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
In the first, an off-screen voice intones, “The devil of Hell’s Kitchen. The smart-ass detective. The righteous ex-con. And the kid with the glowing fist. The war for New York is here.”
From Salon ● May 3, 2017
These survive in the Latin proverb Mali corvi malum ovum—an immemorial testament to the discovery that it is possible to be too much of a smart-ass.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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
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.
