wise guy

See also: wiseguy and wise-guy

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Noun

wise guy (plural wise guys)

1. (informal, mildly derogatory, sarcastic or humorous) One who is insolent or flippant; one who makes jokes or perpetrates pranks.

   Her reputation for being a wise guy made her new teachers hesitant about having her in their classes.

   • 1954, Ian Fleming, “The Big Switchboard”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 38:

     Leiter wound down a window. 'Whaddya want ter do?' asked the driver over his shoulder. 'Gimme pneumony?' 'Just that,' said Leiter, 'if it means saving us from this gas chamber.' 'Wise guy, hn?' said the driver, crashing tinnily through his gears.

2. (slang) A knowledgeable or successful sports bettor.
3. (US, slang) A member of the Mafia; a mobster.

   Synonym: Mafioso

4. (slang) A hipster.
5. (slang, offensive, ethnic slur) An Italian-American man.

Synonyms

• (one who is insolent or flippant): know-all, know-it-all, smart aleck, smarty, wisecracker, wisenheimer

Translations

one who is insolent or flippant

• Finnish: neropatti (fi), viisastelija (fi)
• French: petit rigolo
• German: Naseweis (de) m, Rotznase (de) f, Schlaumeier (de) m, Neunmalkluger m, Besserwisser (de) m, Klugscheißer (de) m
• Hebrew: חכמולוג (he)
• Italian: insolente (it) m, smargiasso (it) m, sapientone m, fanfarone (it) m, spaccone (it) m
• Persian: همه چیزدان, عقلِ کُل
• Polish: mądrala (pl) m pers or f, mędrek (pl) m pers
• Spanish: vivo (es) m, insolente (es) m or f, fanfarrón (es) m, listillo (es) m, sabihondo (es) m, listillo (es) m, listorrón m, listorro m, vivales m or f, sabiondo (es) m
• Yiddish: חכם m (khokhem)

member of the Mafia — see Mafioso,‎ mobster