smart cookie

English

Noun

smart cookie (plural smart cookies)

1. (informal) An individual regarded as clever, astute, or judicious.
   • 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 182:

     “Who is it, out there.”
     “I’m lost on the road can you tell me where I am.”
     “You’re right here, stranger. You got me out of bed. Clear off before I sprinkle your ass with buckshot.”
     “It’s a dire emergency.”
     “Don’t try to be a smart cookee stranger.”

   • 1992, Eugene B. Fluckey, Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II, University of Illinois Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 373:

     Newland, lead cook and a smart cookie, would find some way to feed them if they got stranded ashore.

   • 1998 November 28, Seth Goldstein, “DVD Not The Only Concern For Tape's Sell-Through Biz; DVD Packagers Roll 'Em Out”, in Billboard:

     Is it a coincidence that Fox Home Entertainment, one smart cookie in sell-through, has designated the $170 million hit "There's Something About Mary" for rental?

   • 2008, Douglas E. Egenolf, The Last Seasons: The Story of the Bird Hunter, Dog Ear Publishing, published 2008, →ISBN, page 64:

     This dog was one smart cookie and was quickly picking up the game plan.

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:smart cookie.