wisecrack
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wisecracksimple
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wisecrackssimple
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have wisecrackedperfect
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has wisecrackedperfect
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am wisecrackingprogressive
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are wisecrackingprogressive
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is wisecrackingprogressive
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have been wisecrackingperfect progressive
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has been wisecrackingperfect progressive
Past
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wisecrackedsimple
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had wisecrackedperfect
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was wisecrackingprogressive
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were wisecrackingprogressive
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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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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:
If it were singular, one could make a wisecrack and move on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
In 2019, Barack Obama said: "I've always appreciated her steadiness, her perspective, and the way a wisecrack from her reverberates around the room."
From BBC ● May 31, 2024
In the aftermath of her cable show being canceled last April, Ziwe has spent her post Showtime period being online famous in continuing her spicy brand of witty, wisecrack colloquial humor.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
Harper and Castellanos seemed to send a message about the wisecrack when they arrived at the ballpark wearing gear inspired by Colorado coach Deion Sanders.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2023
Ken and Bob had this smart, competitive way of joking where one would make a wisecrack and the other would have a comeback and the first would have a retort to the comeback.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
The other is “Fleabag”: Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s acidic reprobate, Ms. Weisz’s character is unconstrained by a fourth wall, sharing with us, reflecting, observing, making wisecracks but not being particularly funny.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
Indeed, Epstein’s relationship with the Beatles—the most significant facet of his professional achievement—is reduced to a series of wisecracks from the bandmates.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2025
Big stars: Watts wrote and directed “Wolfs” with George Clooney and Brad Pitt cast as rival “fixers” swapping wisecracks while trying to clean up a bloody accident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2024
Arthur Engoron, a 74-year-old judge with a penchant for wisecracks, sat just a few feet away from the prickly, smirking former president whose bluster and bravado helped propel him to the White House.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
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
Baldwin wisecracked, fully aware that he was about to be slaughtered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 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
“And—Oh! I know!—it’ll help if anyone ever invents a time machine,” Jeremy Evers wisecracked.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
More familiar as a wisecracking action hero in blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, this role is quite a departure for him.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
Here again is that combination of lightly developed workplace issues, romantic complications and wisecracking banter one finds in most every broadcast procedural, a formula that can keep viewers watching for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024
In “Crying Inside,” for example, he sings, “I’ve been wisecracking like the good old days / but pretty soon I’m going to slip away.”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2024
“Not yet. Roho didn’t start out as a monster, no. I’d bet he was once a wisecracking, reckless kid. Only difference is, no one stopped him ahead of time.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
