😏 Cheeky or smart 😏 A cheeky person

alecky

1 9.9

A person who acts cheeky and tries to be clever in a way that annoys others

noun

Offensive

: sabelotodo

Her smart-alecky attitude made it difficult for her to be taken seriously.
smart-alecky

Examples

He always has a smart-alecky response ready for any question.
"I felt all smart-alecky saying it, and I grinned a little.

Fiction book (2002)
During the debate, he made several smart-alecky comments that annoyed the judges.

Synonyms

smarty

vsalecky

Offensive

30 7.7

A person who acts like they know everything and annoys others

is a harsher informal term that emphasises disapproval more than mere cleverness

smart-ass

vsalecky

Offensive

27 9.3

A person who annoys others by saying sarcastic or rude things

is a general informal disapproval of cheeky behaviour rather than specific attitude

smart aleck

vsalecky

Offensive

5 7.5

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

is a disapproving informal label for cheeky behaviour rather than active provocation

smart arse

vsalecky

Offensive

1 9.4

A person who says clever things to annoy or upset others

is the same informal disapproving label but less focused on explicit rudeness

Antonyms

serious

452 1.4

Calm and focused, not playful or joking

respectful

150 1.1

Being polite and showing admiration for someone

How Cheeky

insolent

22 7.1

wise aleck

Offensive

8.1

alecky

Offensive

1 9.9

teaser

Informal

2 4.1

joker

35 2.4

Surface Forms

alecky singular

aleckies plural

Morphology

alecky = aleck (transparent) = aleck + y

The noun sense is derivable from 'aleck' + '-y', forming an informal label meaning 'a person characterized by being an aleck'.

Etymology

Alecky as a noun comes from the phrase smart-aleck, originally meaning a person who is too 'clever' in a rude way. Think of a real or imagined Alec who always gives cheeky answers, so an alecky is a cheeky or annoying person.