Added 9 October 2026
savvy
/ˈsæv.i/ adjective
Latin root: sapere First recorded: 1905 Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about savvy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Shrewd, well-informed and perceptive.
verb
- To understand.
noun
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)