wise aleck
- adjective
- /ˈwaɪz ˈælɪk/
- Offensive
:
sabelotodo
- The student gave a wise aleck answer that made the teacher sigh in frustration.
Examples
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Her wise aleck comments during the meeting annoyed her colleagues.
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He often uses a wise aleck tone when talking to his parents.
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Don't be such a wise aleck!
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His wise aleck comments annoy everyone.
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Her wise aleck remarks during the presentation made everyone roll their eyes.
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The child responded with a wise aleck comment that left the adults speechless.
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I wish you would stop being a wise aleck; it's not funny anymore.
Synonyms
99
4.0
Using words that say the opposite of what you mean to mock or hurt someone
21
7.5
Showing dry, slightly mocking humor and not taking things seriously
2
9.5
Being cheeky and trying to be clever in a way that annoys others
1
8.6
Acting too smart so it annoys other people and causes problems
1
8.1
Saying quick clever remarks that are often funny and a little sarcastic
1
9.1
Acting rude and clever to annoy others
To say mocking or rude things to tease someone
How Impertinent
Surface Forms
Morphology
wise + aleck
The adjective 'wise' clearly contributes a notion of cleverness, so a learner could infer a basic 'clever person' reading from the parts. However, 'aleck' is a dialectal/slang element (most familiar in the fixed collocation 'smart aleck') and carries a pejorative, mocking/pragmatic nuance that is not fully predictable from the words alone, making the phrase partially lexicalized.
Etymology
Wise aleck may come from the same nickname story of a man called Alec who acted wise and spoke with rude cleverness. That's why wise aleck now describes speech or behaviour that is annoyingly clever or sarcastic.