Word of the Day

Monday, September 17, 2001

wiseacre

\WY-zay-kuhr\ , noun;

One who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; a would-be wise person; a smart aleck.

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Quotes:

All across the United States, journalists and other wiseacres would soon have a field day with the popular mayor's personal problems and public trials.

-- Herbert Mitgang, Once Upon a Time in New York

A wiseacre on the Oakland to Los Angeles shuttle this week said the next technological leap would be implanting cell phones into people's heads. He was kidding -- we think.

-- Chuck Raasch, "California is November prize for candidates", USA Today, August 24, 2000

Origin:

Wiseacre comes from Middle Dutch wijssegger, "a soothsayer," from Old High German wissago, alteration of wizago, "a prophet."