1
as in cute
making light of something usually regarded as serious or sacred
you wouldn't be so smart-alecky if you were the one having the surgery
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
smart-alecky comments from a coworker about her new clothes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of smart-alecky
Even at its most sorrowful, anti-authoritarian, and smart-alecky, Gunn’s work endorses a fundamentally promising vision of life.
—
Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Cleverbot veers from sounding like a winsome waif to coming across as a drunk, smart-alecky fifteen-year-old who talks in non sequiturs.
—Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Cleverbot veers from sounding like a winsome waif to coming across as a drunk, smart-alecky fifteen-year-old who talks in non sequiturs.
—Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smart-alecky
Adjective
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Score top wardrobe picks like an everyday V-neck tee ($9), memory foam fuzzy slippers ($6), and an effortlessly cute workout skirt ($8).—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
21 Feb. 2026
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Yes, that innocent activity at which your grandparents might’ve met cute – square dancing – is having a moment here in the Bay Area.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Moving between longing, sarcastic humor and anger, Penelope is a life-affirming feminist romance that makes an ancient legend, first told thousands of years ago, still relevant today.—
Manuel Mendoza,
Dallas Morning News,
26 Feb. 2026
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As Torquay’s women’s team were beating Gloucester on Sunday, commenters left sarcastic replies under the club’s social media updates.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Sawgrass Mills is playful and even a little zany, so that amid all those bargain outlet stores, there’s a sense of adventure.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
23 Feb. 2026
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Parker and his team wanted a sense of heart conveyed through the playful, tuneful, unpolished score.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Our approaches can be critical, satirical, comical, dramatic, poetic, but will always be complex and complicated.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
21 Feb. 2026
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The book is a satirical story about a fictional reality TV show called Model Muse that was inspired by his experience on ANTM.—
Emma Banks,
InStyle,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The acidic solution is placed in the base and water reservoir of the unplugged dehumidifier, and allowed to sit for up to 60 minutes to dissolve the mineral buildup.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
25 Feb. 2026
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Sometimes compost becomes too acidic during decomposition, Ivanov says—fireplace ash helps neutralize this acidity.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smart-alecky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smart-alecky. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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