Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Well informed and perceptive; shrewd.
- adjective Knowledgeable or proficient. Often used in combination.
- noun Practical understanding or shrewdness.
- transitive & intransitive verb To understand; comprehend.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To know; understand; “twig”: as, do you savvy that?
- To possess knowledge.
- noun General cleverness; knowledge of the world: as, he has lots of savvy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- verb Slang, U. S. To understand; to comprehend; know.
- noun Slang, U. S. Comprehension; knowledge of affairs; mental grasp; also, practical know-how; common sense.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective informal
Shrewd , well-informed andperceptive . - verb informal to
understand - interjection informal Do you
understand ?
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the cognitive condition of someone who understands
- verb get the meaning of something
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word savvy.
Examples
-
He speaks angrily about what he calls a savvy campaign by Pakistan's government under President Pervez Musharraf to fleece Washington for billions of dollars even as it allowed Al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan's tribal lands.
Ablogistan 2009
-
"Our bargain savvy shoppers come early, grab tea or a mimosa, and spend quality time looking for right pieces to compliment their wardrobes."
Modern Vintage Chicago Returns This Weekend (PHOTOS) Jen Sabella 2010
-
Sure, media savvy is not a prerequisite for success, lightning does strike (Dame Rowling, for example), but such hope is NOT a plan.
At the Book Trailer Park: Hater, Mortal Coils, and Amberville 2009
-
Mr. Malone, credited as a founding father of the cable TV business, is known as a savvy investor and tough dealmaker who has cobbled together a patchwork of businesses under the banner of his Liberty empire, including home shopping network QVC and premium cable network owner Starz Entertainment.
Liberty Could Open New Chapter With Barnes Nat Worden 2011
-
David Louis Edelman - Edelman's web savvy is unmatched and his content is not only refreshingly original, but also interesting.
SF Signal's 10 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Author Blogs 2009
-
India's vaunted tech savvy is being put to the test this week as the country embarks on a daunting mission: assigning a unique 12-digit number to each of its 1.2 billion people.
World Watch 2010
-
"Our bargain savvy shoppers come early, grab tea or a mimosa, and spend quality time looking for right pieces to compliment their wardrobes."
Modern Vintage Chicago Returns This Weekend (PHOTOS) Jen Sabella 2010
-
A lack of media savvy is one of the reasons that the Police Forces across the UK have such a piss poor media image.
Just To Show I Didn’t Make It Up…….. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
-
But woods/prairie/mountain savvy and a moderate gun will go a long way.
Sit Down, Shut Up 2008
-
The conventional wisdom prevailing since the start of the 2008 campaign has always maintained that technological savvy is the specialty of Senator Barack Obama and his followers.
G.O.P.’s Platform Gets Web Input - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
-
Meanwhile, holidays are “holibobs”, and the wine formerly known as sauvignon blanc is “savvy b”– best paired with a jacky p (jacket potato) for a comforting dinner that’s not too “spenny” (expensive).
‘Genny lec’ and ‘cozzie livs’. And who can afford 'savvy b'? British slang is daft, but it is breaking taboos | Coco Khan Coco Khan 2024
yarb commented on the word savvy
'I tried to crack on I hadn't noticed anything, but it kept on and on and I saw it was trying to attract my attention so I couldn't anything but try to savvy what it was on about...'
- Peter Reading, C, 1984
July 4, 2008
super-thegirlnextfloor commented on the word savvy
Captain Jack Sparrow.
June 23, 2009
thtownse commented on the word savvy
This is one of my most hated words.
December 4, 2009
mattaustin commented on the word savvy
I found this word in an article called "Three days in Sri Lanka", by Nathan Myers. It is used in the sentence as followed, " For a savvy traveler like Gaskell, Sri Lanka only reiterated what he already knew."
September 22, 2010