Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Impertinent, disrespectful speech; back talk.
  • transitive verb To talk impudently to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as sauce.
  • noun Vegetables, particularly those used in making sauces: as, garden sass.
  • noun Insolence; impudence.
  • To talk or reply saucily; be insolent in replying.
  • To sauce; be saucy to.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun sarcasm, backtalk, cheek.
  • verb To talk, to talk back.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb answer back in an impudent or insolent manner
  • noun an impudent or insolent rejoinder

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from sassy.]

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Examples

  • This was to have happened in 2004, but there was so much sass from the people that it was put off till 09.

    End of analog broadcast TV in USA approaches 2007

  • "That's the stuff for my money!" replied her brother; "'taters and apple-sass is my sass in the winter."

    The Wide, Wide World 1892

  • Myer snaps up sass & bide for $42.5m MYER has announced its $42.5 million purchase of high-end women's fashion label sass & bide.

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2011

  • "It's good those is easy got," said his sister Mary; "the sass is the most of the dinner to Bob most commonly."

    The Wide, Wide World 1892

  • "It's good those is easy got," said his sister Mary; "the sass is the most of the dinner to Bob, most commonly."

    The Wide, Wide World Susan Warner 1852

  • "It's good those is easy got," said his sister Mary; "the sass is the most of the dinner to Bob most commonly."

    The Wide, Wide World Susan Warner 1852

  • The best part of my Mother's Day was listening to my granddaughter give my daughter the kind of sass she used to give me.

    Dear God... (the stick turned blue) 2008

  • Software as a Service SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass' is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand

    Archive 2009-04-01 Bill Kerr 2009

  • Software as a Service SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass' is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand

    notes on cloud computing Bill Kerr 2009

  • It takes the Sasquatch out of the -- takes the "sass" out of the "squatch" or something.

    CNN Transcript Jun 3, 2008 2008

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