Etymology

wiseass

W4I1S1E1A1S1S1

Today it means: One who makes wisecracks, particularly in a sassy or cocky fashion. Full definition →

English wise ← Middle English wys, wyse ← Old English wīs
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
  3. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-s-ós
  4. Proto-Germanic*wīsaz
  5. Old Englishwīs
  6. Middle Englishwys, wyse
  7. Englishwise
  8. English todaywiseass

From wise + -ass.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.