plural smarty-pants
informal
: smart aleck, know-it-all
"If you give people the impression you're a smarty-pants, that's no good for sure."Al Gore
Choosing books for picky friends can be humbling. There's always one smarty-pants who has read not only the gift book but everything else in the author's oeuvre.Marilyn Stasio
Even the smartest of smarty-pants couldn't have answered all four of those "gotcha" foreign-policy questions.Jonathan Alter
smarty-pants adjective
… a veneer of smarty-pants condescension. Ron Powers
Every musical genre has its smarty-pants jokesters, and alternative rock is no exception. Entertainment Weekly

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of smarty-pants was in 1932

Dictionary Entries Near smarty-pants

Cite this Entry

“Smarty-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smarty-pants. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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