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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of wiseass
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Feb. 2026
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
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
Noun
As disarming as Rockwell is with his wry balance of doofus, savant and wiseass, and as capable as Verbinski is at keeping the brushes with death coming at a sustained pace, the movie feels most original in its flashbacks.
—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Feb. 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wiseass
Adjective
-
Berries, given their naturally tiny nature, are a super cute choice.
-
The pair have to find their friends (JJ included) which leads to a cute game of peekaboo.
Noun
-
The 40-year-old singer Ryan Davis, a cowboy wiseacre with a drum machine and the patience for 11-minute anthems, riffs merrily on such existential mysteries.
-
Similarly, the Pink Ladies, a popular clique headed by Rizzo (Stockard Channing), deliver their wiseacre lines with a fair dose of irony.
Noun
-
Developed by Robbins specifically for Pompeo, Chicks follows Chickie (Pompeo) and Doreen, two estranged half-sisters who are both struggling to get by when their wise guy dad unexpectedly kicks the bucket.
-
Here’s a look at what each team in the NFC North has done in free agency, and how the wise guys in Las Vegas currently rank the division.
Noun
-
Agnes came from a family of smarties.
-
The suffix -y here is the same as in words like doggy or smarty, used to form nicknames or informal descriptors.
Noun
-
Also, the movie knows when to ease up on the wisenheimer instinct.
-
Stan is a bit of a wisenheimer, and Sandler puts his natural yappiness to good use.
Noun
-
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.
-
Newton scored and so did backcourt mate Cam Spencer, that different style of smart aleck, who had 20.
Cite this Entry
“Wiseass.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wiseass. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
