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
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Recent Examples of smarty-pants
Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
Plural noun
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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Real Arizonans know that Valentine's Day is so much more than an excuse for candy and cute notes.—
Becky Bartkowski,
AZCentral.com,
14 Feb. 2026
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From workplace romances to relationships built from body horror events, these are the precious pairs encouraging everyone to choose love above all and make that cute hand heart gesture.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And my initial job and focus was working for the chief digital officer at the time who was a really smart guy.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
14 Feb. 2026
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The long-standing challenge of smart fibers For years, researchers have tried to make smart fibers—materials that change shape when exposed to electricity, light, heat, or changes in acidity.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smarty-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smarty-pants. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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