smart-ass

adjective

Definition of smart-assnext
as in cute
making light of something usually regarded as serious or sacred it's easy to make smart-ass jokes about death when you're not the one who's dying

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smart-ass
  1. cute
  2. flippant
Adjective
  • Get the perfect lowkey look by pairing it with sneakers and a sun hat, then swap out your shoes for cute sandals and a cardigan in the evening.
    — Mia Huelsbeck, PEOPLE, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Their cute, elderly golden retriever, Cassie, is used for such baldly emotionally manipulative ends.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of cute
Adjective
  • Creating Lila’s flippant father came easily, which is why Halpern refused to settle on Dix as the main character.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
  • Diet culture doesn’t care about your health The flippant comments about this parasite belie the dominant belief that weight loss is inherently about pursuing health.
    — Oona Hanson, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
Definition of flippant
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.

Browse Nearby Words

smart-alecky
smart-ass
smart-assed
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Smart-ass.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smart-ass. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All