Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Slang A person regarded as being disagreeably egotistical and self-assured.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A sayer of wise things; a learned or wise man.
- n. One who makes pretensions to great wisdom; hence, in contempt or irony, a would-be wise person; a serious simpleton or dunce.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A learned or wise man.
- n. One who makes undue pretensions to wisdom; a would-be-wise person; hence, in contempt, a simpleton; a dunce.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments
Etymologies
- Alteration by folk etymology from Middle Dutch wijsseggher, soothsayer, translation of Middle High German wīssage, from Old High German wīssago, seer, alteration (influenced by forasago, sayer beforehand, prophet) of wīzago, from wīzag, knowledgeable; see weid- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The book follows the usual jocular style of the "For Dummies" series (does the publisher have a special "wiseacre" editor?) including the cartoons and the usual "Part of Tens".”
“There was a gang of wiseacre boys who defiled the sacrament of confirmation—the Catholic equivalent of the bar and bat mitzvah—by choosing the silliest saint they could find, "Aloysius," for the confirmation name that the bishop would announce when it was their turn to get their cheeks slapped.”
“Hunky wiseacre Ryan Reynolds has announced that his next project is entitled ‘Buried’, a film about a civilian contractor in Iraq who gets captured and buried alive with only a cell phone, candle, knife … … and his wits yo!”
“Labour's electoral system may not be a good one, but the big guns – from private financial donors, to wiseacre columnists, newspaper editorialisers and party grandees – almost all lined up for David, against Ed. The pro-Ed camp in the press has pretty much consisted of the People newspaper and three or four of us columnists.”
The Guardian: Under Ed Miliband's lead, Labour's new generation must step up
“In the golden age of the family sitcom, children with the exception of wiseacre Rusty from Make Room for Daddy didn't zing their parents like Borsht-belt comics.”
“Note the word "absolute" that the wiseacre slipped in there.”
“Swept into the orient as we learned, no one was too alarmed when some wiseacre in the back of the room had the good sense and quick whit to break out some hand cymbals.”
“He also made regular wiseacre appearances on a little VH1 show called Best Week Ever spoiler: the best week ever was June 18 to 24, 1995.”
The Huffington Post: Steven Shehori: Criminally Overlooked Albums: The Top Part by John Mulaney
“He's also the single biggest and most shameless wiseacre on either side of the Mason-Dixon line.”
The Huffington Post: Carrie Underwood: Ten Reasons to Watch the CMA Awards
“What GH/PH will gain is revenge, a small but possibly growing PLP following and in those long future soul searching years in the desolate wilderness that Labour will inhabit, a wiseacre ability to say 'we told you so' to Paxman and the after dinner circuit.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wiseacre’.
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Gapeseeds and Muckworms - Compound Derogatives
A list of compound derogatory names such as gapeseed, muckworm and lickspittle. Your one-word contributions to this list are welcome.
See sionnach's list derogatory terms I should use ...gapeseed, muckworm, lickspittle, makeweight, bootlicker, backscratcher, apple-polisher, backslapper, brownnoser, rakeshame, yesman, freeloader and 237 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 376 more...
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unkind words
unkind words or those refering them.
twit, gibe, blockhead, bonehead, cretin, dullard, imbecile, simpleton, clod, dunce, simp, ignoramus and 39 more...
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JimboBaggins's list
paraphenalia
haberdashery, desideratum, esoteric, retribution, retrograde, tetrahedron, iridescent, tentative, siphon, soothsayer, wanderlust, patina and 16 more...
hagendas Alteration by folk etymology from Middle Dutch wijsseggher, soothsayer. Jan 10, 2009
jimbobaggins A person with an affectation of wisdom. Sep 8, 2008
milosrdenstvi Came across this word in an English translation of Comenius's Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart, an allegory. The protagonist is constantly being told not to be a wiseacre by the people who lead him around, showing him the attractions of the world, when he questions their lasting value. Aug 15, 2008
reesetee Yarb, you say that like it's a bad thing. ;-) Oct 16, 2007
npydyuan Yea, the ea is beautiful! Oct 16, 2007
chained_bear I love wiseacre for the same reason as I love roseate. It's that weird "ea" thing going on in the middle there. Oct 16, 2007
yarb Wise-aker, shurely?
Sometimes Wordie turns my whole world upside down. Oct 16, 2007
reesetee Wiseakker. Jul 6, 2007
uselessness Mmm, I could sure go for some cheese and cracres right about now. Jul 6, 2007
reesetee Ooh...but "wise-akker" (rhyming with "cracker") sounds pretty good too. Jul 6, 2007
jennarenn dictionary.com says WAHYZ-ey-ker Jul 6, 2007
arby How the hell is this word pronounced, anyway? Does it rhyme with baker or cracker? Jul 6, 2007