sassy

Formssassier, sassiest

1. 1
   cheekyadjective

   Showing a bold, spirited lack of respect, often toward a parent, teacher, or other person in authority.

   When her manager questioned the report, she shot back a sassy reply that got a few laughs around the table.

   The sitcom's sassiest character is a ten-year-old who never lets her parents win an argument.

   Similarcheeky, impertinent, impudent, insolent, saucy

   Oppositerespectful, polite, deferential, meek

   Note

   The cheeky sense stays closest to its source: sassy began in American English as a reshaping of saucy, equivalent to sass plus -y. It was in print by 1799 but common only from the mid-nineteenth century, and early writers put it in vernacular mouths, spelled as it was spoken: "a leetle too sassy for cumfirt." Saucy is still its closest synonym.

2. 2
   stylishadjective

   Of clothes or an outfit, stylish and fashionable, with a smart, chic look.

   For the gallery opening he picked a sassy little blazer in emerald velvet.

   The store's spring line is sassier than last year's, with bolder cuts and brighter prints.

   Similarstylish, chic, smart, fashionable, snazzy

   Oppositefrumpy, dowdy, unfashionable

   Note

   On clothes the word keeps an edge of its cheeky meaning: sassy styling is chic with a dare in it. In Jane Costello's The Time of Our Lives (2014), a top is "a little sassier, more revealing" than its wearer usually goes for. In Kate O'Leary's Twell and the Rebellion, the narrator's sassiest outfit is plainly wrong for army training. It praises flair, not quiet elegance.

3. 3
   livelyadjective

   Lively and vigorous, full of energy and life.

   A squeeze of grapefruit gives the vinaigrette a sassy edge that wakes up the bitter greens.

   The horn section opened the second set with a sassy, strutting number that filled the dance floor.

   Similarlively, spirited, zesty, peppy, vibrant

   Oppositedull, lifeless, flat

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