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smart aleck
[ smahrt al-ik ]
smart aleck
/ ˈæ±ôɪ°ì /
noun
- informal.an irritatingly oversmart person
Derived Forms
- ˈ²õ³¾²¹°ù³Ù-ËŒ²¹±ô±ð³¦°ì, adjective
Other ˜yÐÄvlog Forms
- ²õ³¾²¹°ù³Ù-²¹±ô·±ð³¦°ì·²â ²õ³¾²¹°ù³Ù-²¹±ô·±ð³¦°ì adjective
˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins
Origin of smart aleck1
˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins
Origin of smart aleck1
Idioms and Phrases
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.Example Sentences
Some sued, some sent smart aleck responses and some refused to answer the email.
I didn’t actively think of it again, but “you should always look for the limb†became part of my smart aleck’s understanding of the world, a bit of wisdom, never questioned.
In real life, however, Mr. Jaffee was the opposite of a smart aleck: a genteel, unassuming man whose in-person humor was delivered with a wink, not a cudgel.
She is an outraged activist, a smart aleck, an angsty dreamer of a girl.
Reynolds may play the smart aleck, but beneath Adam’s zingers he is compensating for a profound pain, and Louis is critical in activating his son’s tender side.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from 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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