smart-alecky

adjective

Having the quality of a smart aleck; rude, disrespectful.

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Meanings

adjectivesmart-alecky (comparative more smart-alecky, superlative most smart-alecky)

comparative more smart-alecky · superlative most smart-alecky

  1. Having the quality of a smart aleck; rude, disrespectful.

    The Katzenjammer Kids were fun because they made the adults look stupid. But they were a little too smart-alecky for my taste.

    1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 11, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, pages 63–64

Origin

From smart aleck + -y.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

smart-alecky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smart-alecky

MLA

“smart-alecky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smart-alecky. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smart-alecky,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smart-alecky.

Source: smart-alecky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.