wiseacre
Americannoun
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a person who wishes to seem wise
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a wise person: often used facetiously or contemptuously
Etymology
Origin of wiseacre
1585–95; < Middle Dutch wijssager prophet, translation of Middle High German wīssage, late Old High German wīssago, by popular etymology equivalent to wīs wise + sago sayer, from earlier wīzzago wise person; cognate with Old English wītega, akin to wit 2
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.
That’s the thing about elections: they help keep wiseacres like me honest.
From Los Angeles Times
“Hey,” said one wiseacre, stepping into a gaggle of car people on the patio at the Mission Ranch.
From Los Angeles Times
Watching it now reveals an altogether different Fallon, more sarcastic wiseacre than chipper enthusiast.
From New York Times
While “my statue was the butt of wiseacres and witlings, I never in word, or thought, swerved from my principle,” he wrote.
From Washington Post
Insouciance goes a fairly long way in “Confess, Fletch,” which revives the wiseacre investigator once played by Chevy Chase and featured in a series of novels by Gregory Mcdonald.
From New York Times
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.
