wisecrack
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
wisecracks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wisecracked,
past participle, past
-
wisecracking
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
wisecracks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wisecracked,
past participle, past
-
wisecracking
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wisecracksimple
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wisecrackssimple
-
have wisecrackedperfect
-
has wisecrackedperfect
-
am wisecrackingprogressive
-
are wisecrackingprogressive
-
is wisecrackingprogressive
-
have been wisecrackingperfect progressive
-
has been wisecrackingperfect progressive
Past
-
wisecrackedsimple
-
had wisecrackedperfect
-
was wisecrackingprogressive
-
were wisecrackingprogressive
-
had been wisecrackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wisecrack
Explanation
A wisecrack is a funny joke or a sarcastic remark that makes someone laugh. The class clown is usually famous for their wisecracks. You can use this informal word as a verb, too: "How can I know when you're serious if you just wisecrack constantly?" Wisecrack first appeared at the start of the 20th century, from a now-uncommon sense of the verb crack, "speak loudly or boastingly," which is also used in the phrase "to crack a joke." It takes more than wisecracks to be a successful comedian, but it's a good start!
Vocabulary lists containing wisecrack
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The Skin I'm In
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Red Kayak
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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:
A wisecrack about the real estate prices popped into my head, but I held my tongue.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
He didn’t mince words or allow nuance or second thoughts to stand in the way of a zingy phrase or a colorful wisecrack.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Burry is just as likely to be dismissed on social media, where jokers trot out a version of a wisecrack that he predicted 20 of the last two recessions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
The wisecrack summed up Bedi in many ways: an irreverent personality, and a rebel of sorts.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2023
I thought sure someone would make a wisecrack.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
During his $45 two-hour tours that embark from a dock at Schooner Landing, Holmes offers a steady patter of oyster-related wisecracks, as his partner, Olga Oros, shucks and hands out shellfish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The loyal Sara, who rides a real motorcycle, is immune to her partner’s wisecracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
But the superstar isn’t convinced until the very last moment, when she and Ava are about to take their final train ride and can’t resist trading a few wisecracks about death.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
"Parker offers immaculate room service as she delivers polished rounds of rueful wisecracks."
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024
Kids wouldn’t move to the right places during rehearsals, or would ad-lib wisecracks, which Mrs. Finley didn’t think at all funny.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
After asking Warsh to stand, Trump wisecracked that he would sue him if he failed to lower rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
The bond also involved friendly rivalry and humor: “I never knew I’d be married to somebody that old,” he wisecracked when Rosalynn was 91.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2023
“I would trade it in a minute, if I could just be a wife and mother,” wisecracked the gold lamé-wrapped, gum-chewing Tenuta, who accepted her award from Carlin.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
"Good. I didn't feel a thing," she wisecracked.
From Salon ● May 10, 2020
And when they didn’t, when somebody out-insulted them, or ignored them, or sent them running, they wisecracked and name-called until the sweat of embarrassment evaporated from the palms of their hands.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Mr. Chandler certainly gets it, making Hal a wisecracking, long-suffering delinquent who’s as charming as he is insubordinate—not an original type, perhaps, but the actor makes his character the magnetic force of the whole series.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Whenever the tone of the film tilts toward the overly reverent, Waters comes in with a bit of wisecracking, truthtelling remembrance: Oliver chain-smoked, swore, was stubborn, walked in the forest “like a crazy person.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Nicholas Brendon, best known for portraying the loyal, wisecracking Xander Harris in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” died Friday from natural causes after dealing with a congenital heart defect and other health issues in recent years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026
Dobson's wisecracking style of magic saw him rise to prominence through the 1980s.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
By day at the bookbindery, we glue gunned our way into a companionable oblivion, wisecracking until there was nothing left to say.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
