From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Wiseacre \Wise"a*cre\, n. [OD. wijssegger or G. weissager a
foreteller, prophet, from weissagen to foretell, to prophesy,
OHG. w[imac]ssag?n, corrupted (as if compounded of the words
for wise and say) fr. w[imac]zzag?n, fr. w[imac]zzag? a
prophet, akin to AS. w[imac]tiga, w[imac]tga, from the root
of E. wit. See {Wit}, v.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A learned or wise man. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Pythagoras learned much . . . becoming a mighty
wiseacre. --Leland.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who makes undue pretensions to wisdom; a would-be-wise
person; hence, in contempt, a simpleton; a dunce.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
wiseacre
n 1: an upstart who makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments
[syn: {wise guy}, {smart aleck}, {wiseacre}, {wisenheimer},
{weisenheimer}]
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