a) someone who is very elegant
Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.
b) someone who dresses like a teenager
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c) someone who displays intelligence in an annoying way
Well done ! That’s the right answer.
If someone is a smarty pants they are a person who talks and behaves like someone who knows everything.
French translation
un gros malin, un petit malin
How NOT to translate : *un caleçon malin
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Examples in context
‘Smarty-pants Spike helps feed his canine
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but it seems every pooch also needs a cockatoo onside.
A feathered friend named Spike certainly now how to treat these two Great Danes, sneakily feeding them biscuits straight from the packet.
The hilarious video shows the clever bird acting like the master and doling out treats to the two pet dogs.’
The Daily Mail, 30th August 2014
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’Jeff Zucker Is Reportedly Wooing Ann Curry To Replace Anderson Cooper At CNN
Jeff Zucker doesn’t even take over the role of President of CNN Worldwide until the new year, but the TV exec already has his sights set on at least one new addition to the network : Ann Curry.
"Jeff wants a headliner like Rachel Maddow or Bill O’Reilly in prime time,” sources tell the Post. “He cannot allow the low ratings at CNN to continue . . . so he can’t hire a nobody." Curry fits that CNN-smarty-pants-foreign-affairs type.’
Business Insider, 12th December 2012
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Everyday usage
If this smarty-pants machine is cleverer than me then it needs to prove itself.
Cindy, the little smarty pants will be the first to tell us where we went wrong.
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