wise-ass
Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of wise-ass
First recorded in 1970–75
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.
But as respectful as writer-director Jon Watts is toward creating opportunities for wise-ass capering, the movie is curiously both a labored and lax attempt at restoring that luster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024
This must have been where the exile story started: Buckner chased west by one wise-ass too many.
From The New Yorker ● May 28, 2019
As the music strikes up, and the book’s characters are introduced in comic buffo style, you wonder if you’re in for a meal of wise-ass lit-lampoonery.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2013
I was relieved; she had the wise-ass gene, too.
From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2012
Jack was an idealised version of the wise-ass street-urchin fantasy they had of themselves.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 6, 2010
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.
