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smart

smart

110 6.1
Rude and cheeky in what someone says
  • adjective
  • /smɑrt/
  • Offensive
: insolente
  • Thank you for giving me something smart, funny, and educational to read every week.
  • smart aleck

And if you're asking in a way of being smart, yeah, it was.

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Examples

  • That wasn't a smart thing to do, was it?

  • You got a smart mouth.

  • You were being extremely smart about not getting caught.

  • And it is not smart to let this thing use you.

  • Where you get that smart mouth from?

  • You're not really doing anything smart by doing that.

  • And I don't think that was the smart thing to do.

  • In general, Sara is getting a little too smart for her own good lately.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The other thing is, don't act smart when you blog.

  • Don't be so cheeky; your smart remark wasn't funny.

Synonyms

wise
vssmart
  • Informal
98 8.4

Rude and cheeky to someone in authority

is cheeky toward people in many situations, not only authority
sassy
vssmart
  • Informal
53 7.2

Being bold and lively in a rude or cheeky way

is impudent mainly by attitude rather than by energetic liveliness
saucy
vssmart
  • Informal
22 5.8

Being playful and a little rude in a way that teases people

is more sharply disrespectful and less playful in tone
fresh
vssmart
  • Offensive
13 7.5

Rude and disrespectful to someone in authority

is cheeky more generally, not limited to challenging authority
impertinent
vssmart
13 7.2

Rude or too bold toward someone, sometimes playful

is more cheeky and disrespectful in attitude rather than merely forward
impudent
vssmart
10 7.9

Someone who shows no respect by acting or speaking boldly

is cheeky and impertinent with playful tone rather than shamelessness
overbold
vssmart
1 7.0

Too confident in a way that seems rude

is cheeky and disrespectful but not necessarily excessively bold
smartish remark
vssmart
6.0

A quick, clever comment that is slightly cheeky

applies to people or remarks generally rather than only clever comments

Antonyms

146 1.1

Being polite and showing admiration for someone

deferential
  • Formal
10 6.6

Being respectful and polite to someone because they are older or have more experience

Idioms

smart as a whip
  • Informal
5 7.0

Very quick to understand things and find answers

right smart
  • Informal
1 9.6

Fairly large in amount or degree

right smart
  • Informal
1 9.9

To a large degree

Compounds

smart arse
  • Offensive
32 9.4

A person who says clever things to annoy or upset others

smart money
  • Jargon
9 5.6

Money invested or bet by people believed to have expert knowledge

smart bomb
  • Specialized
9 4.0

A bomb that can be guided to hit a specific target

smart aleck
  • Offensive
8 7.5

A person who acts as if they know everything and annoys others

smart card
  • Specialized
6 3.7

A small plastic card with a chip that stores money or ID

smart money
  • Jargon
2 6.8

People believed to have expert knowledge or inside information about investments and bets

smart set
  • Archaic
1 8.2

A group of fashionable people in high society

smart set
  • Specialized
1 3.8

A group of connected home devices like lights or speakers you control together

smart money
  • Formal
1 8.4

Money a court gives to punish someone for doing something wrong

How Cheeky

brazen
39 7.3
insolent
21 7.1
impertinent
13 7.2
smart
  • Offensive
110 6.1
cheeky
  • Informal
32 4.8

Surface Forms

smart positive
smarter comparative
smartest superlative

Etymology

A helpful way to remember smart meaning 'cheeky' is to think of a 'sharp' answer that 'stings' someone; a smart remark is a quick, sharp reply that can feel rude. So being smart in this sense means being impertinently bold.