sassy

adjective, sas·si·er, sas·si·est. Informal.

impertinent; insolent; saucy: a sassy reply; a sassy teen.

pert; boldly smart; saucy: a sassy red handbag.

Origin:
1830–1835, Americanism; alteration of saucy

Related forms

sas·si·ness, noun

sas·si·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

sassy bark.

Origin:
1855–60; of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To sassy

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Sassy is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

sassy¹ (ˈsæsɪ)

—*adj* , -sier, -siest
	informal (US) insolent, impertinent

[C19: variant of saucy]

'sassily¹

—*adv*

'sassiness¹

—n

sassy, sasswood or sassy wood² (ˈsæsɪ, ˈsæsˌwʊd)

—n
1.	a W African leguminous tree, Erythrophleum guineense, with poisonous bark (sassy bark) and hard strong wood
2.	the bark or wood of this tree or the alkaloid derived from them, which is sometimes used in medicine

[C19: probably from a language of the Kwa family: compare Twi sese plane tree, Ewe sesewu a kind of timber tree]

sasswood, sasswood or sassy wood²

—n

[C19: probably from a language of the Kwa family: compare Twi sese plane tree, Ewe sesewu a kind of timber tree]

sassy wood, sasswood or sassy wood²

—n

[C19: probably from a language of the Kwa family: compare Twi sese plane tree, Ewe sesewu a kind of timber tree]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

sassy

1833, Amer.Eng., alteration of saucy (see sauce). Back-formation sass "impudence" is first attested 1835; the verb is first recorded 1856.

Matching Quote

"The best thing about Sassy Seats is that grandmothers cannot figure out how they work and are in constant fear of the child's falling. This often makes them forget to comment on other aspects of the child's development, like why he is not yet talking or is still wearing diapers. Some grandmothers will spend an entire meal peering beneath the table and saying, "Is that thing steady?" rather than, "Have you had a doctor look at that left hand?""

-Anna Quindlen

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