sass

See also: SASS, Sass, and saß

English

Etymology

Variant of sauce.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sæs/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æs

Noun

sass (uncountable)

1. (US) Backtalk, cheek, sarcasm.
   • 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter I, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 23:

     Say—if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a rock off'n your head.

   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter V, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 33:

     Looky here—mind how you talk to me; I’m a-standing about all I can stand now—so don’t gimme no sass.

2. (archaic) Vegetables used in making sauces.
3. A subgenre of screamo music.

Derived terms

• sassy

Translations

backtalk, cheek, sarcasm

• Bulgarian: дързък отговор m (dǎrzǎk otgovor)
• Czech: drzost (cs) f
• Dutch: gedoe (nl) n, tegenspreken (nl), zever (nl)
• French: culot (fr) m, toupet (fr) m
• Hungarian: pimaszság (hu)
• Portuguese: atrevimento (pt)
• Russian: де́рзость (ru) f (dérzostʹ)
• Spanish: descaro (es), descoco (es)
• Swedish: malis (sv), gliring (sv) c, spydighet (sv), stickord (sv) n, giftighet (sv) c, förtal (sv) n

Verb

sass (third-person singular simple present sasses, present participle sassing, simple past and past participle sassed)

1. (intransitive, US, informal) To talk, to talk back.
   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXI, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 316:

     The duke he begun to abuse him for an old fool, and the king begun to sass back; and the minute they was fairly at it, I lit out, and shook the reefs out of my hind legs, and spun down the river road like a deer—for I see our chance; and I made up my mind that it would be a long day before they ever see me and Jim again.

   • 1894, Mark Twain, chapter 2, in Tom Sawyer Abroad:

     “But, good land! what did he want to sass back for? You see, it couldn’t do him no good, and it was just nuts for them.”

2. (transitive, US, informal) To speak insolently to.

   Don’t sass your teachers!

   • 1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:

     “This isn’t any of your business, Ilse Burnley,” muttered Jennie, sullenly.
     “Oh, isn’t it? Don’t you sass me, Piggy-eyes.” Ilse walked up to the retreating Jennie and shook a sunburned fist in her face.

Translations

talk back

• Dutch: tegenspreken (nl), opspelen (nl)
• French: contredire (fr), protester (fr), répondre (fr)
• Hungarian: felesel (hu)
• Portuguese: responder (pt)
• Russian: дерзи́ть (ru) impf (derzítʹ), наха́льничать (ru) impf (naxálʹničatʹ), пререка́ться (ru) impf (prerekátʹsja), препира́ться (ru) impf (prepirátʹsja), говори́ть де́рзости impf (govorítʹ dérzosti)

German

Verb

sass

1. Switzerland and Liechtenstein standard spelling of saß.