English Explanatory Dictionary

savvy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Shrewd, well-informed and perceptive.
verb
  1. To understand.
noun
  1. Shrewdness.

Pronunciation

/ˈsæv.i/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-savvy.wav

Word forms

savvy savvier savviest savvies savvying savvied

Etymology

Alteration of save, sabi (“to know”) (in English-based creoles and pidgins), from Portuguese sabe (“[she/he] knows”), from saber (“to know”), from Latin sapere (“to taste; to know”). First appears c. 1785 in a dictionary by Francis Grose, as a noun, “practical sense, intelligence”; also a verb, “to know, to understand”. The adjective is first recorded 1905, from the noun.

Synonyms

canny savviness

Related words

Homo sapiens insipid insipience insipient sapid sapience sapiens sapient savant

Derived words

cybersavvy genre-savvy high-tech savvy media-savvy nonsavvy savvily savviness techno-savvy tech-savvy unsavvy
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