sass
/sas
/North American informal
noun [mass noun]
Impudence; cheek: the kind of boy that wouldn’t give you any sass...
- A well-cut skirt that moves around the knee adds just the right amount of sass to a conservative hemline.
- The intensity of the vocals gradually build, the tremolo becomes more wild, and when the orchestra begins to hit on the bridge she comes out street-smart and full of sass.
- Sure, the track picks up a new tone: sass and swagger, winking and wiggling.
verb [with object]
Be cheeky or rude to (someone): we wouldn’t have dreamed of sassing our parents...
- And the boys would get rowdy, running around and sassing us.
- Why did she presume I was sassing her, you may wonder?
- ‘And don't you start sassing your mother, either,’ her father added.
Origin
Mid 19th century: variant of sauce.