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  smart smart-ass  
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   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
smart aleck
 
SYLLABICATION:smart al·eck
PRONUNCIATION:  lk
NOUN: Informal 1. A person regarded as obnoxiously self-assertive. 2. An impudent person.
ETYMOLOGY:Perhaps after Aleck Hoag, 19th-century American confidence man and thief.
OTHER FORMS:smart-aleck (smärtlk) , smart-aleck·y (--k) —ADJECTIVE
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  smart smart-ass  
 
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