1 sass | Definition of sass

sass

noun
\ ˈsas How to pronounce sass (audio) \

Definition of sass

 (Entry 1 of 2)

1 informal

a : impudent speech : back talk She takes no sass from her students.
b : bold rudeness or impertinence especially when considered playful, appealing, or courageous It is all dished out by combat-ready waitresses whose borscht belt sass lends extra spice to the meal.— Jane and Michael Stern … Ferraro showed off her sass. She critiqued President Reagan by name with a series of crowd pleasing one-liners.— Kathy Kiely
2 informal : an appealingly exciting, lively, or spirited quality …Mick Jagger's recent solo may be high on style and sass, but it's tough to beat Talk Is Cheap for real primitive cool.— David Fricke As they have for a decade, the international wealthy favor New York City for its comparative safety and social sass.— J. D. Reed Like a vintage jazz tune, fine Scotch delivers smooth flavor and sass.— Audarshia Townsend

sass

verb
sassed; sassing; sasses

Definition of sass (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to talk impudently or disrespectfully to

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Examples of sass in a Sentence

Noun

an old-fashioned diner where getting sass from the waitstaff is part of the experience

Verb

He got drunk and sassed a cop.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Best Person to Follow on Twitter: Mayor Woodfin For city goings-on, humor, feel-good stories, and a side of sass, there’s only one man to follow: Randall Woodfin. Birmingham Magazine, al, "Birmingham magazine’s Best and Worst of Birmingham," 3 Sep. 2019 Last March, researchers found that another RubyGems library called bootstrap-sass was also backdoored. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "The year-long rash of supply chain attacks against open source is getting worse," 21 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sass.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of sass

Noun

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1856, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for sass

Noun

alteration of sauce entry 1

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More Definitions for sass

sass

verb

English Language Learners Definition of sass

chiefly US, informal : to talk to (someone) in a rude way that does not show proper respect

sass

noun
\ ˈsas How to pronounce sass (audio) \

Kids Definition of sass

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: a rude or disrespectful reply

sass

verb
sassed; sassing

Kids Definition of sass (Entry 2 of 2)

: to speak to in a rude or disrespectful way

More from Merriam-Webster on sass

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with sass

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sass

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