smart alec smart alecs in AM and sometimes in BRIT, use smart aleck disapproval If you describe someone as a smart alec, you dislike the fact that they think they are very clever and always have an answer for everything. a fortyish smart-alec TV reporter. someone who always says clever things or always has the right answer, in a way that is annoying (aleck from Aleck, Alec male name, from Alexander)