Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) an unpleasantly conceited, smug person, esp. one who thinks themselves clever.

1865		Carson Appeal 17 Oct. 2/3: Halloa, old smart Aleck—how is the complimentary vote for Ashley? [DA].
1873		J.H. Beadle Undeveloped West 140: I had the pleasure (?) of seeing at least a score of ‘smart Alecks’ relieved of their surplus cash by betting on the ‘strap galoe,’ ‘patent lock,’ ‘ten-die game,’ ‘three-card monte’ and other beautiful uncertainties.
1887		G. Devol Forty Years a Gambler 141: He was a knowing sort of a chap; perhaps best described as a ‘smart aleck’.
1890		Hull Dly Mail (Yorks.) 9 June 3/7: Smart Aleck (from College): Say, farmer, if I can prove to you that your two horses are equal to three [etc.].
1897		Speaker’s Garland 163: SMART ALECK, an impecunious playwright.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Nov. 20/3: Peacock’s act may be meant merely as a thanksgiving, but all the same it’s a big, fat bribe to do this particular smart Aleck the same kindness next trip.
1908		‘Old Sleuth’ Dock Rats of N.Y. (2006) 50: It was reported by some ‘Smart Alec’ that the detectives had been put on outgoing vessels bound for some distant port, and that in good season they would turn up.
1910		O. Johnson Varmint 54: If any of these smart Alecs can get the best of me [...] he’ll have to be up with the chickens!
1915		M.G. Hayden ‘Terms Of Disparagement’ in DN IV:iii 203: smarty, Mr. Smarty, a smart Ellick (Alec).
1915		S. Ford Torchy, Private Sec. 26: Who could talk business to a smart Alec like that!
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 152: That’ll teach the grouches and smart alecks to respect the He-man.
1927		C. Woofter ‘Dialect Words and Phrases from West-Central West Virginia’ in AS II:8 364: There are too many smart Elicks now-a-days.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 32: ‘I hear pickings are good there,’ said the wise Alec, ‘and we can coin money.’.
1935		Ted Yates This Is New York 29 Mar. [synd. col.] I told the smart aleck that he was imitation of life!
1936		J.T. Farrell World I Never Made 2393: You’re a wisealeck, aren’t you? I tagged you for a wise guy the minute you walked in here, actin’ like you owned shares around here.
1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 87: Bill’s up to some dodge with that young Smart Aleck.
1944		F.J. Hardy ‘A Stranger in the Camp’ in Man From Clinkapella 25: We’ll get the games going again, and let the smart alec run the meetin’ himself.
1949		L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 37: Do you think a man’s a mug? I get smart alecks like you trying to put one over on me every minute of the day.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 62: When a smart alec called one of my ushers a poofter one night I was into him like a shot. I hit him on the chin and he went stern over appetite.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 124: An agitator, the sort of smart-aleck who quoted back to you the union-stevedore agreement.
1964		J. Thompson Pop. 1280 in Four Novels (1983) 379: One of these big-mouth smart-alecks.
1969		P. Theroux Murder in Mount Holly (1999) 34: You can’t have wise-guys in a war, or smart-alecs either.
1970		B. Oakley Salute to the Great McCarthy 23: S’all right smart dick. He’s heading for big trouble.
1970		R. Fabian Anatomy of Crime 193: Alec: (Smart Alec). Swindler.
1970		N. Beagley Up and Down Under 77: This smart Alick got caught.
1986		J.B. Keane Bodhrán Makers 304: We are now at the mercy of every smart Alec and every gombeen man in the parish.
1994		I. Welsh ‘A Smart Cunt’ in Acid House 209: You’re a bit of a smart [...] A smart alec. You think you know all the answers.
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 91: ‘An aleck - or smart aleck - can be downright dangerous. One - they’re bigmouths. Two - they will shelf you or dob you in at the drop of a hat.
2000		(con. 1938) Guardian Mag. 13 May 33: We should take care to prevent you being a smart Alec.
2009		P. Temple Truth 220: In that instant, Villani knew that Dove was not a mistake. He was a smart aleck but he was not a mistake.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘No-one likes a smart-alec, Munro’.