Dictionary

smart-alecky en · ADJ

Etymology

From smart aleck + -y.

Meanings

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:

Forms