as in cute
making light of something usually regarded as serious or sacred
your smarty-pants comments aren't helping matters any
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in smarty
a person who likes to show off in a clever but annoying way
I don't need to hear from some smarty-pants second-guesser that the theme for the party is all wrong
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of smarty-pants
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Eventually, the game builds to its own metafictional deconstruction, albeit in a way that lands as an emotional gut punch rather than smarty-pants twist.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
Plural noun
Rolling off the bed in a silicon sleep cocoon, Grace gradually evolves from a wriggling larval stage into a fully upright, walking and talking smarty-pants.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Eventually, the game builds to its own metafictional deconstruction, albeit in a way that lands as an emotional gut punch rather than smarty-pants twist.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smarty-pants
Adjective
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Walter, who had left the Progressive Labor Party, didn’t preach Marxism to his son, but Riley embraced a radical-left viewpoint on his own, after tagging along with some cute older girls who were participating in a cannery workers’ strike.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
17 May 2026
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He's described as being cute, with chin-length dark hair, dimples and a diamond stud in one ear.—
Jennifer McClellan,
USA Today,
17 May 2026
Adjective
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There is no analogous player in this squad to Grimaldo; Marc Cucurella, the man who has displaced him in the Spain team, is positionally smart but a more effective off-ball runner than on-ball playmaker.—
Liam Twomey,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
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The clients who will be best positioned are the ones making smart decisions today — not the ones reacting to a tax bill six months from now.—
Greg Raiff,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smarty-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smarty-pants. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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