as in cute
making light of something usually regarded as serious or sacred
the comedian's wiseass monologue about terrorism was greeted with stony silence
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in wiseacre
a person who likes to show off in a clever but annoying way
fine, you're right, but there was no reason to be such a wiseass while pointing out the error
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of wiseass
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 2 Apr. 2025
But since the emergence of a kinder, gentler Deadpool in the wiseass character’s first stand-alone movie, Wade has carried on a long-distance flirtation with Wolverine.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 July 2024
His expression was again lightly sardonic: a Jewish wiseass, a natural resister and conspirator, one maybe even handicapped in that role by looking too much the part.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
There’s more of Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman this time around, too, though the iconic wiseass gets exactly one (1) decent line that’s already been trailered and memed to death.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, Hart plays seasoned mercenary Roland and Black plays wiseass robot Claptrap.
—Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
Nick is the self-deprecating wiseass.
—Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2023
No one’s better at playing a low-key wiseass.
—BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2021
Noun
One year after his debut in Top Secret! and one year before stepping up as Top Gun's Iceman, Kilmer led Martha Coolidge's comedy Real Genius, playing a Caltech wiz-kid (and hard-partying wiseass) tasked with designing a chemical laser.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 2 Apr. 2025
But since the emergence of a kinder, gentler Deadpool in the wiseass character’s first stand-alone movie, Wade has carried on a long-distance flirtation with Wolverine.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 July 2024
His expression was again lightly sardonic: a Jewish wiseass, a natural resister and conspirator, one maybe even handicapped in that role by looking too much the part.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
There’s more of Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman this time around, too, though the iconic wiseass gets exactly one (1) decent line that’s already been trailered and memed to death.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, Hart plays seasoned mercenary Roland and Black plays wiseass robot Claptrap.
—Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
Nick is the self-deprecating wiseass.
—Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2023
No one’s better at playing a low-key wiseass.
—BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wiseass
Adjective
-
Rumors about the Only Murders in the Building star's nuptials with Benny Blanco being this weekend turned out to be 100-percent true, and as soon as a few beautiful photos of the cute couple were green-lighted to be shared with the eager public, fans were double-tapping with tears in their eyes.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
27 Sep. 2025
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The set comes in moody neutrals like gray, indigo, cream, and white, and even arrives in a cute storage tote.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In 1982’s hit action comedy 48 Hours, a young Eddie Murphy plays a wiseacre criminal on parole in order to help a veteran cop, played by Nick Nolte, solve a case.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Similarly, the Pink Ladies, a popular clique headed by Rizzo (Stockard Channing), deliver their wiseacre lines with a fair dose of irony.—
Vogue,
Vogue,
10 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
Also, the movie knows when to ease up on the wisenheimer instinct.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Sep. 2023
-
Stan is a bit of a wisenheimer, and Sandler puts his natural yappiness to good use.—
Mark Feeney,
BostonGlobe.com,
9 June 2022
Noun
-
And of course, the sci-fi comedy pic’s architect, Mel Brooks, is back, returning to his roles as Zen Yiddish wise guy Yogurt and President Skroob.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The Green Bay Packers made quite a Week 1 impression — at least with the wise guys in Las Vegas.—
Rob Reischel,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The suffix -y here is the same as in words like doggy or smarty, used to form nicknames or informal descriptors.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
In addition to Johnson, East High's resident smarty-pants, Monique Coleman will be reprising her role as the brilliant Taylor McKessie and Broadway veteran Alyson Reed will be back as the kooky Ms. Darbus.—
Shafiq Najib,
Peoplemag,
12 Nov. 2022
Noun
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This fuzzy, snout-nosed, smart aleck extraterrestrial whose name was Gordon Shumway crashed in the suburban garage of the Tanner family in California after escaping from the doomed planet of Melmac, which was destroyed by nuclear war.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
24 Aug. 2025
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Newton scored and so did backcourt mate Cam Spencer, that different style of smart aleck, who had 20.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
13 June 2024
Cite this Entry
“Wiseass.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wiseass. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
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