wisenheimer en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈwaɪz(ə)nˌhaɪməɹ/ (US)
Etymology
From wise + the German demonymic ending -enheimer.
Meanings
-
(US, informal) A self-assertive and arrogant person; a wiseacre or smart aleck.
"It wasn’t until I read Mark Oppenheimer’s charming memoir that I had an apt description of my son: “…a smart aleck is a smart guy gone bad, a boy whose smartness is being used stupidly, while a wisenheimer actually lacks wisdom. He might not be cruel, he might not mean harm, but a wisenheimer is a smart guy you wish had a little less smarts.”
2010, J. Bolton-Fasman, "Debating Salvation: A smart aleck finds his niche" The Jerusalem Post 11/11/2010 On-line, accessed November 13, 2010 (quotations are from Wisenheimer: A Childhood Subject to Debate by Mark Oppenheimer (Hardcover - Apr 13, 2010))One particular striker shorter than Hicks and wearing glasses, ordinarily the daily double of who not to go after, a wisenheimer with a mouth on him, somehow cannot be chased off or brought down.
2025, Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, Jonathan Cape, page 32:There was an auto salesman in here yesterday that claimed you could always tell a fellow's class by the car he drove, but I says to him, 'Don't be silly,' I says; 'the wisenheimers grab a look at a fellow's nails when they want to tell if he's a tin-horn or a real gent!"'
1922, Sinclair Lewis, “24”, in Babbitt:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| wisenheimers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Synonyms
clever clogs · wisenheimer · know-all · smarty pants · wiseacre · smart aleck · know-it-all · smarty · Buddha · smart ass · wise guy · wise-ass · clever dick · smart aleck · wiseass