Word of the Day Archive
Monday September 17, 2001
wiseacre \WY-zay-kuhr\ , noun:
One who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; a would-be wise person; a smart aleck.
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
Wiseacre comes from Middle Dutch wijssegger, "a soothsayer," from Old High German wissago, alteration of wizago, "a prophet."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for wiseacre
