sass

noun \ ˈsas \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: sass in a Sentence

Definition of sass

1 informal

a : impudent speech : back talk

She takes no sass from her students.

b : bold rudeness or impertinence especially when considered playful, appealing, or courageous

It is all dished out by combat-ready waitresses whose borscht belt sass lends extra spice to the meal.
—Jane and Michael Stern

… Ferraro showed off her sass. She critiqued President Reagan by name with a series of crowd pleasing one-liners.
—Kathy Kiely

2 informal : an appealingly exciting, lively, or spirited quality

…Mick Jagger's recent solo may be high on style and sass, but it's tough to beat Talk Is Cheap for real primitive cool.
—David Fricke

As they have for a decade, the international wealthy favor New York City for its comparative safety and social sass.
—J. D. Reed

Like a vintage jazz tune, fine Scotch delivers smooth flavor and sass.
—Audarshia Townsend

Examples of sass in a Sentence

an old-fashioned diner where getting sass from the waitstaff is part of the experience

Recent Examples of sass from the Web

Whatever the reason, Blue Ivy showed off a new side to her sass last night.

— erica gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Blue Ivy Told Beyoncé and JAY-Z to Stop Clapping and a Meme Was Born," 29 Jan. 2018
Just as reactions were mixed to IHOP's original name change, there has also been a variety of comments with this switch back, ranging from appreciation to sass.

— ben tobin, USA TODAY, "IHOP changes name back from IHOb," 9 July 2018
The seven-minute video, found on Facebook and YouTube, is a fever dream of sugar and sass, challenging the Fab Five to create cupcake versions of their co-stars.

— joseph hernandez, chicagotribune.com, "This 7-minute 'Queer Eye' and 'Nailed It' mashup is all you need in your life," 29 June 2018
Rudd is a winning combination of sass and sincerity.

— graeme mcmillan, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Ant-Man and The Wasp': What the Critics Are Saying," 27 June 2018
If Friedenberg begins the play with refreshing pluck and sass for a part usually played for woebegone submission, her Ophelia goes jarringly musical theater in her own scene of madness.

— lily janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "Youth gives some new energy to Marin Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ but not enough," 2 June 2018
Jenkins: Her style is elegance and class mixed with excellence and sass.

— matthew j. palm, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Broadway performers salute Ella Fitzgerald with the Philharmonic," 18 Apr. 2018
Chrisley Knows Best is soon to return — serving up lots of laughter, Southern sass and more Todd Chrisley one-liners.

— natalie stone, PEOPLE.com, "Southern Sass and Passing Gas! Watch the Hilarious Chrisley Knows Best Season 6 Trailer," 12 Apr. 2018
Some had signs and T-shirts with messages of tolerance or sass, including one of Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a rainbow.

— NBC News, "LGBTQ pride parade turnout defies conservative times in Poland," 11 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sass.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sass

alteration of ¹sauce

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1835

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

sass Synonyms

Synonyms

back talk, backchat, cheek, impertinence, impudence, insolence, mouth, sauce;

Near Antonyms

civility, cordiality, courtesy, diplomacy, politeness, tactfulness;

consideration, gallantry, gentility, graciousness, smoothness, suaveness, suavity;

deference, respect;

affability;

cuteness, discourtesy, disrespect, guff, impoliteness, nonsense, rudeness, tactlessness;

audaciousness, audacity, boldness, brazenness;

coarseness, crassness, crudity, vulgarity;

abruptness, bluffness, bluntness, brusqueness, crossness, curtness, gruffness, surliness;

sass

verb

Definition of sass

sassed; sassing; sasses

transitive verb

: to talk impudently or disrespectfully to

See sass defined for English-language learners

See sass defined for kids

Examples of sass in a Sentence

He got drunk and sassed a cop.

Recent Examples of sass from the Web

Here, Prince Harry was captured sassing photographers while getting out of a car to visit the hospital after his cousin, Princess Beatrice of York, was born in 1988.

— lyndsey matthews, Town & Country, "Princess Charlotte Channeled Prince Harry at the Royal Wedding," 19 May 2018
Although Archie’s a little shaking at the start of this number (think Zac Efron at the beginning of High School Musical), Betty takes over and uses it as an opportunity to apologize to Veronica after publicly sassing her a few minutes prior.

— gianluca russo, Teen Vogue, "The "Riverdale" Musical Numbers, Ranked," 19 Apr. 2018
An entertaining Twitter account, in which Daniels often and humorously sassed back at the name callers, recently went private.

— jean marbella, baltimoresun.com, "A Stormy front is coming: Trump might try to silence Daniels, but she'll bare all in Baltimore," 19 Apr. 2018
Lewis also sassed and snarled at critics and interviewers who displeased him.

— lindsey bahr, Esquire, "Jerry Lewis, Comedy Legend and Tireless Telethon Host, Dies at 91," 20 Aug. 2017
Things like negging bosses, sassing bartenders, writing off-the-rails emotional emails to men who didn’t care about me—these used to be core parts of my personality.

— meaghan o'connell, Longreads, "Girl Wonder," 20 July 2017