smartyn.adj.
/ˈsmɑːti/, U.S. /ˈsmɑrdi/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
A. n.
A person who is (or would like to be thought) smart or witty; (also) a smartly dressed person; a member of a smart set. Cf. smarty-pants n.Also as a form of address.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [noun] > smart person
a man of (the first) feather1592
pink1602
smart1709
flasher1755
swell1786
dasher1807
smarty1847
city slicker1914
Roy1960
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > as a form of address
lordOE
wye1340
gentleman1534
old fellow1567
gaff1573
godhood1586
gaffer1590
dad1605
daddy1681
hearty1735
cock-of-wax1790
governor1819
bub1839
smarty1847
doc1870
guy1876
Sunny Jim1903
big guy1910
chief1927
daddy-o1944
pops1944
tosh1954
Sonny Jim1960
ese1961
majita1963
G1990
mi'jito1990
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > sharpness, shrewdness, insight > would-be clever person > [noun]
clever-boots1847
smarty1847
smart alec1864
clever-clogs1866
clever-sides1886
clever Dick1895
wise guy1896
wisenheimer1904
smarty-pants1935
quiz kid1940
smart apple1940
smarty-boots1950
smart-ass1958
slick1959
clever-sticks1964
smart-arse1965
wise-ass1971
1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky 85 My back ain't nuffin to you, Mister Smarty!
1861 Calif. Mag. Aug. 39/2 ‘Juvenile smartys’ are interesting, even to a vagabond.
1876 ‘M. Twain’ Tom Sawyer xviii. 156 That Saint Louis smarty that thinks he dresses so fine.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxiii. 198 The village smarties recognized a treasure in Nicodemus, right away—a butt to play jokes on.
1902 O. Wister Virginian xxvii. 349 ‘He is a smarty,’ said he, once or twice.
1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 89 But it is hard to be tolerant with the smarties.
1956 L. McIntosh Oxf. Folly viii. 118 It's amazing how easy it is for anyone like me, with no background, to pose as an Oxford smartie.
1988 J. Burchill Sex & Sensibility (1992) 55 The occasional very pretty, very young, very sassy smartie such as Mandy Smith may rise from the ashes of an affair with a career to attend to.
2006 Independent 30 Nov. (Extra section) 11/2 The hot subject all night was wind turbines, with the Belgravia smarties begging for advice on where to get this new accessory.
B. adj.
Clever, knowing, esp. ostentatiously or smugly so; = smart-alecky adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > sharpness, shrewdness, insight > would-be clever person > [adjective]
smarty1850
smart alec1877
clever-clever1896
wise guy1920
slick1921
smarty-pants1932
wisenheimer1937
smart-ass1951
smart-assed1957
smart-arsed1962
smarty-boots1962
smart-arse1965
wise-assed1967
wise-ass1971
1850 Knickerbocker Sept. 228 It'll do well enough for young folks that 's smarty, but old women ought n't to disembowel themselves, any how.
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxiii. 370 The barkeeper..was gay and smarty and talky.
1948 M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker vi. 83 He was full of smarty ideas and had no manners.
1960 D. Potter Glittering Coffin vi. 96 A smarty gossip column.
1990 E. Gilchrist I cannot get you Close Enough iii. xvi. 373 But she acts so smarty around boys.
1999 P. Temple Black Tide (2006) 10 Bunch of girls, three, four of em, rich girls, very smarty.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1847