Wise-acre is essentially synonymous with the terms jerk and jackass. One defining feature is that a wise-acre enjoys comedy more than anything, and therefore an insult comic or a practical joker would be called wise-acres. It has fallen into disuse recently, but it's still there.
Yeah, Tom's a real wise-acre. He screwed the top of the salt-lid off and when I went to pour it it fell off.
by Wesley Durrance October 17, 2005