wise·a·cre
Audio Help [wahyz-ey-ker] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [wahyz-ey-ker] Pronunciation Key [Origin: 1585–95; < MD wijssager prophet, trans. of MHG wīssage, late OHG wīssago, by popular etym. equiv. to wīs wise + sago sayer, from earlier wīzzago wise person; c. OE wītega, akin to wit2
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] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
wiseacre
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| wise·a·cre
Audio Help (wīz'ā'kər) Pronunciation Key
n. Slang A person regarded as being disagreeably egotistical and self-assured. [Alteration by folk etymology from Middle Dutch wijsseggher, soothsayer, translation of Middle High German wīssage, from Old High German wīssago, seer, alteration (influenced by forasago, sayer beforehand, prophet) of wīzago, from wīzag, knowledgeable; see weid- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
wiseacre
1595, partial translation of M.Du. wijssegger "soothsayer" (with no derogatory connotation), probably altered by association with M.Du. segger "sayer" from O.H.G. wizzago "prophet," from wizzan "to know," from P.Gmc. *wit "know." The depreciatory sense of "one who pretends to know everything" may have come through confusion with obsolete Eng. segger "sayer," which also had a sense of "braggart" (c.1440).
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| wiseacre | |
noun | |
| an upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments [syn: wise guy] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Wiseacre
Wise"a*cre\, n. [OD. wijssegger or G. weissager a foreteller, prophet, from weissagen to foretell, to prophesy, OHG. w[=i]ssag?n, corrupted (as if compounded of the words for wise and say) fr. w[=i]zzag?n, fr. w[=i]zzag? a prophet, akin to AS. w[=i]tiga, w[=i]tga, from the root of E. wit. See Wit, v.]1. A learned or wise man. [Obs.] Pythagoras learned much . . . becoming a mighty wiseacre. --Leland. 2. One who makes undue pretensions to wisdom; a would-be-wise person; hence, in contempt, a simpleton; a dunce.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
wiseacre
wiseacre was Word of the Day on September 17, 2001.
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