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variants or less commonly whip smart or whipsmart
: very smart or clever
whip-smart dialogue
But underestimate or patronise Jessica at your peril. She's whip-smart, ultra-ambitious and brutally honest.Kerry Potter
He is also whip smart and tenacious, driven and efficient, typical of the breed so often attracted to academic medical research.Lisa Belkin

Examples of whip-smart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But in the meantime, the Fatal Attraction icon can be seen in Hulu’s campy legal drama All’s Fair and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third installment of writer-director Rian Johnson’s murder mysteries about whip-smart detective Benoit Blanc. Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 20 Nov. 2025 The most heart-tugging acceptance speech was given by the witty and whip-smart Juliette Hohnen (Douglas Elliman) who won the award for Celebrity Property Portfolio. Hadley Meares, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025 At the top of that list was Wheeler, a whip-smart, hilarious, genial country boy from Belmont, N.C., who was a walking encyclopedia both of NASCAR knowledge and of what made race fans tick. Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 21 Aug. 2025 There, he's forced back into a harsh dynamic of grappling with his mother Bev's drug addiction and the memories of the whip-smart grandmother who raised him. Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 13 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for whip-smart

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of whip-smart was in 1942

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Cite this Entry

“Whip-smart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whip-smart. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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