Home UK English sass

Meaning of sass in English:

sass

Pronunciation /sas/

Translate sass into Spanish

noun

mass nouninformal North American

  • Impudence; cheek.

    • ‘the kind of boy that wouldn't give you any sass’
    • ‘A well-cut skirt that moves around the knee adds just the right amount of sass to a conservative hemline.’
    • ‘The intensity of the vocals gradually build, the tremolo becomes more wild, and when the orchestra begins to hit on the bridge she comes out street-smart and full of sass.’
    • ‘Sure, the track picks up a new tone: sass and swagger, winking and wiggling.’
    • ‘The perfect package of sleek soul and street sass, she shifted a remarkable 12 million records.’
    • ‘Delivered with that kind of sass, some audiences might find these plays hard to take.’
    • ‘You've got sass, style, and a ‘I don't care about nothing’ type attitude.’
    • ‘I don't need any more of your insubordination, young man, and I certainly don't need your sass.’
    • ‘In New York, Milan and Paris, designers continued to embrace the polished and sophisticated glamour of last fall, adding a bit of playfulness, a hint of sass and a whole lot of color.’
    • ‘But Lauren Kennedy, though she sings agreeably, is too ordinary as Nellie: a woman who is prepared to overcome her Arkansas origins to marry a French planter needs a bit of sass.’
    • ‘One of the first things we learn from listening to these characters is that they may be poor, struggling, and practically desperate, but by golly, they have sass.’
    • ‘The ranger could take only so much sass from a man.’
    • ‘She immediately slaps Rafferty and doesn't take his sass.’
    • ‘The Americans kept taking sass from the British and didn't object because they were real weenies back then.’
    • ‘I also got a little bit of sass over the use of plywood.’
    • ‘Ruth is a pretty funny lady, but her sass and verve seem to be overplayed and pretty much misused here.’
    • ‘This is blues rock cranked up to 70's stadium level, full of sass and attitude.’
    • ‘The movie is in dire need of some sass, not to mention a drop or two of genuine emotion.’
    • ‘I couldn't recognise the yearner of the poems in this woman of sass and spirit.’
    • ‘Using her intelligence, sass and humour she's become living proof that the size of your bottom doesn't dictate your chances of success in life.’
    • ‘Any child that projects sass or any attitude walks home empty handed!’
    impertinence, impudence, cheek, cheekiness, bad manners, ill-manneredness, unmannerliness, rudeness, impoliteness, incivility, lack of civility, discourtesy, discourteousness, disrespect, insubordination, contempt

verb

[with object]informal North American

  • Be cheeky or rude to (someone)

    • ‘we wouldn't have dreamed of sassing our parents’
    • ‘And the boys would get rowdy, running around and sassing us.’
    • ‘Why did she presume I was sassing her, you may wonder?’
    • ‘‘And don't you start sassing your mother, either,’ her father added.’
    • ‘What I do know is that Bridges was trouble on the set from day one, repeatedly sassing directors, crew members, and even fellow cast members.’
    • ‘Scout insisted that she'd asked Atticus, and she got in trouble for sassing her aunt.’
    • ‘I should love to see Gerald's face if you sassed him, but it would be too risky: I outrank him, but you most certainly don't.’
    • ‘They didn't know how often Ray called him names or hit or sassed him.’
    • ‘His aunt sassed him again before turning to leave his room to let him change.’
    • ‘I couldn't make out what exactly it was about - it sounded like the girl had sassed a Port Authority cop or something.’
    • ‘She agrees to smuggle Lukas into occupied Turkish territory so he can see his hometown again, but he keeps almost getting them killed by sassing every Turk in sight.’
    • ‘He lies, steals cars, runs off in the middle of the night and sasses his elders; he could use a swift kick in the rear.’
    • ‘Don't sass your boyfriend, Lil, that's the best way to lose him!’
    • ‘‘Don't you sass me, young lady,’ she said sternly, and I apologized.’
    • ‘Just remember women, stay safe, and don't sass your busy men!’
    • ‘Take note of that, the next time you sass your grandparents or fail to wash your hands before dinner.’
    • ‘He's too big for his britches, always thinking he knows best, quick to sass his elders and a hot head.’

Origin

Mid 19th century variant of sauce.