Crossword clues for wiseacre
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wiseacre \Wise"a*cre\, n. [OD. wijssegger or G. weissager a foreteller, prophet, from weissagen to foretell, to prophesy, OHG. w[=i]ssag?n, corrupted (as if compounded of the words for wise and say) fr. w[=i]zzag?n, fr. w[=i]zzag? a prophet, akin to AS. w[=i]tiga, w[=i]tga, from the root of E. wit. See Wit, v.]
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A learned or wise man. [Obs.]
Pythagoras learned much . . . becoming a mighty wiseacre.
--Leland. One who makes undue pretensions to wisdom; a would-be-wise person; hence, in contempt, a simpleton; a dunce.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1590s, partial translation of Middle Dutch wijssegger "soothsayer" (with no derogatory connotation), probably altered by association with Middle Dutch segger "sayer" from Old High German wizzago "prophet," from wizzan "to know," from Proto-Germanic *wit- "to know" (see wit (v.)). The deprecatory sense of "one who pretends to know everything" may have come through confusion with obsolete English segger "sayer," which also had a sense of "braggart" (mid-15c.).
Wiktionary
n. 1 One who feigns knowledge or cleverness; one who is wisecracking; an insolent upstart. 2 (context obsolete English) A learned or wise man.
WordNet
n. an upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments [syn: wise guy, smart aleck, wisenheimer, weisenheimer]
Usage examples of "wiseacre".
Flippant, flyblow, half-baked wiseacreing is about the worst thing in the world, compared to honest ignorance.
In March or April, say the wiseacres, there is to be a stupendous knockout blow at Britain.
Full of this idea, the scientific gentleman seized his pen again, and committed to paper sundry notes of these unparalleled appearances, with the date, day, hour, minute, and precise second at which they were visible: all of which were to form the data of a voluminous treatise of great research and deep learning, which should astonish all the atmospherical wiseacres that ever drew breath in any part of the civilised globe.
The same faithful gomeral is to despatch this letter by the express along with those of the wiseacres, so that you may hear Tom Fool in company with Solomon.
Hayter's trademark wiseacre voice is in full-throttle here as she pokes fun at social climbers, gossip columnists, news agencies, multinational conglomerates, and anything else that happens to get in her way.