Besserwisser
German, noun/ˈbɛsɐˌvɪsɐ/
Besserwisser is spelled B-E-S-S-E-R-W-I-S-S-E-R (12 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written German, the 44,523rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Besserwisser is a German masculine noun meaning “know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “Person, die immer alles besser wissen will und damit angibt”.
What does Besserwisser mean in English?
noun
- 1
derogatorymasculineknow-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck
Er ist ein solcher Besserwisser, dass nicht einmal die Lehrer mit ihm diskutieren mögen.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Person, die immer alles besser wissen will und damit angibt
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Besserwisser
- Besserwissers genitive
- Besserwisserin feminine
- Besserwissern dative definite plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Besserwisser?
- /ˈbɛsɐˌvɪsɐ/
- /ˈb̥ɛsːɐˌvɪsːɐ/
- /ˈb̥ɛsːərˌvɪsːər/
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Besserwisser
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Besserwisser in German?
Besserwisser appears about once in every 1 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).