smart aleck
or smart al·ec
Origin of smart aleck
1Other words from smart aleck
- smart-al·eck·y, smart-al·eck, adjective
Words Nearby smart aleck
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use smart aleck in a sentence
So much of the promise of the show is that you have a smart aleck detective who will never stop goofing around.
In the series' pilot, smart-aleck ex-lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) tells Abed that he has Asperger's syndrome.
The result was a greasy coat collar and the general tout ensemble of the genus "smart aleck."
Remarks | Bill NyeFor if we don't run across that bag mighty soon we're bound to make it warm for this smart aleck.
The Banner Boy Scouts | George A. WarrenTime was you batted a young smart aleck down, told him to go get dry behind the ears before he shot off his mouth.
Eight Keys to Eden | Mark Irvin Clifton
Before he got there he started a guessing contest in that smart-aleck burg.
The Modern Railroad | Edward Hungerford"The young squirt was always a Smart-Aleck and a blow-hard," he said.
Poor White | Sherwood Anderson
British Dictionary definitions for smart aleck
/ (ˈælɪk) /
informal an irritatingly oversmart person
Origin of smart aleck
1Derived forms of smart aleck
- smart-aleck or smart-alecky, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with smart aleck
An impudent or obnoxiously self-assertive individual, a wise guy, as in New teachers often have a hard time coping with the smart alecks in their classes. This expression, dating from the mid-1800s, probably alluded to a person of this description who was named Alec or Alexander, but his identity has been lost.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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