wise

1 adjective

1 DECISION/IDEA ETC wise decisions and judgements are based on good sense and experience; sensible: I think that would be a wise precaution. | be wise to do sth: I think you were wise to leave when you did.

2 PERSON someone who is wise makes good decisions, gives good advice etc, especially because they have a lot of experience of life: a wise old man | older and wiser (=having learned from the experiences of life) | wise in the ways of formal (=knowing a lot about something)

3 get wise to/be wise to informal to realize that someone is being dishonest: I've got wise to his little tricks now.

—see also: wise up wise 2

4 be none the wiser informal to not understand something, even after it has been explained: Charlie explained how the system works, but I'm still none the wiser.

5 no-one will be any the wiser spoken used to say that no-one will find out about something bad someone has done: Just put it back on the shelf, and no-one will be any the wiser.

6 wise guy informal especially AmE an annoying person who thinks they know more than they really do: OK, wise guy, shut up and listen for a minute!

7 act wise AmE spoken to speak or behave in a rude way

8 be wise after the event to know how a mistake could have been avoided, after it has been made

—see also: wisdom, sadder but wiser sad (6) — wisely adverb: Invest the money wisely. | He nodded wisely. 2 verb wise up phrasal verb informal

1 (I) to realize the unpleasant truth about a situation: Wise up, Vic - he's cheating you!

2 (transitive wise someone up (to)) especially AmE to make someone realize the unpleasant truth about a situation

3 noun

1 price-wise/time-wise etc especially spoken concerning or connected with prices etc: Time-wise we're not doing too badly.

2 crosswise/lengthwise etc in a direction across something, along the length of something etc: Cut the carrots lengthwise.

3 (singular) old use a way or manner: They are in no wise to blame.

—see also: streetwise