About this episode
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 4, 2026 is:
wiseacre • \WYZE-ay-ker\ • noun
A wiseacre is someone who says or does things that are funny but annoying. Wiseacre is an informal and old-fashioned word, as well as a synonym of smart aleck.
// Some wiseacre in the audience kept heckling the comedian throughout the performance.
Examples:
"In 1982's hit action comedy 48 Hours, a young Eddie Murphy plays a wiseacre criminal on parole in order to help a veteran cop, played by Nick Nolte, solve a case." — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2025
Did you know?
Given the spelling and definition of wiseacre, you might guess that the word was formed directly from the familiar adjective wise. And you might be wise to think so—a wiseacre, after all, is someone who thinks or pretends they're wiser (more crafty or knowing) than they are. But you would, alas, also be wrong. Unlike wisecrack and wisenheimer, wiseacre came to English not from wise but from the Middle Dutch word wijssegger, meaning "soothsayer." Wiseacre first appeared in English way back in the 16th century, while all those other wise words appeared centuries later. The etymologies of wiseacre and wise are not completely distinct, however; the ancestors of wiseacre are loosely tied to the same Old English root that gave us wise.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day — wiseacre. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
0:00It's the word of the day for April 4th. Today's word is Lysaker, spelled as a single word, W-I-S-E-A-C-R-E. Lysaker is a noun. A Lysaker is someone who says or does things that are funny but annoying. Lysaker is an informal and old-fashioned word, as well as a synonym of smart Alec. Here's the word used in a sentence from Deadline. In 1982's Hit Action Comedy 48 Hours, a young Eddie Murphy plays a Y-Zaker criminal on parole in order to help a veteran cop, played by Nick Nulti, solve a case. Given the spelling and definition of Y-Zaker, you might guess that the word was formed directly from the familiar adjective, Wise. And you might be wise to think so. A Lysaker, after all, is someone who thinks or pretends
1:02their wiser, more crafty or knowing than they are. But you would, alas, also be wrong. Unlike Lyscrack and Lysenheimer, Lysaker came to English not from Wise, but from the middle Dutch word, Visega, meaning Suthsayer. Wisega first appeared in English way back in the 1500s, while all those other Wise words appeared centuries later. The etymologies of Wisega and Wise are not completely distinct, however. The ancestors of Wisega are loosely tied to the same old English root that gave us Wise. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit MarianWebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.
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