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wise guy

noun

Simple meaning

An upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wyzgy

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwaɪzˈɡaɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments

  2. informalmildly derogatorysarcastic or humorous

    One who is insolent or flippant; one who makes jokes or perpetrates pranks.

  3. slang

    A knowledgeable or successful sports bettor.

  4. usslang

    A member of the Mafia; a mobster.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments

Used this way, wise guy is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.

Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Critical but measured

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.