Word of the DayMonday, September 17, 2001
wiseacre
\WY-zay-kuhr\ , noun:1.
One who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; a would-be wise person; a smart aleck.
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."
