adj · noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Australian, Canada, UK, US:/ˈsæv.i/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ævi
CMU ARPABET:S AE1 V IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Shrewd, well-informed and perceptive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Shrewdness.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: savviness
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To understand.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
the cognitive condition of someone who understands
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect
Synonyms: grok, get the picture, comprehend, dig, grasp, compass, apprehend
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: understand
Narrower terms: figure, catch on, get wise, get onto, tumble, latch on, cotton on, twig, get it, intuit, digest
History
Etymology
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.
Across languages
Translations
56 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
الدهاء
(aldaha')
— well-informed and perceptive
Bulgarian:
знаещ
(znaešt)
— well-informed and perceptive
Chinese Mandarin:
精明能幹的 /精明能干的
(jīngmíng nénggàn de)
— well-informed and perceptive
Czech:
vnímavý
— well-informed and perceptive
Czech:
důvtipný
— well-informed and perceptive
Czech:
řídící se zdravým rozumem
— well-informed and perceptive
Czech:
chytrý
— well-informed and perceptive
Finnish:
fiksu
— well-informed and perceptive
Finnish:
älykäs
— well-informed and perceptive
French:
futé
— well-informed and perceptive
French:
malin
— well-informed and perceptive
German:
clever
— well-informed and perceptive
German:
klug
— well-informed and perceptive
German:
schlau
— well-informed and perceptive
Italian:
astuto
— well-informed and perceptive
Italian:
furbo
— well-informed and perceptive
Persian:
زرنگ
(zerang)
— well-informed and perceptive
Portuguese:
sábio
— well-informed and perceptive
Portuguese:
sabido
— well-informed and perceptive
Russian:
смы́слящий
(smýsljaščij)
— well-informed and perceptive
Russian:
сообража́ющий
(soobražájuščij)
— well-informed and perceptive
Russian:
продви́нутый
(prodvínutyj)
— well-informed and perceptive
Russian:
куме́кающий
(kumékajuščij)
— well-informed and perceptive
Russian:
вруба́ющийся
(vrubájuščijsja)
— well-informed and perceptive
Serbo-Croatian:
умјешан
— well-informed and perceptive
Serbo-Croatian:
информиран
— well-informed and perceptive
Serbo-Croatian:
umješan
— well-informed and perceptive
Serbo-Croatian:
informiran
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
sabio
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
canchero
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
sabido
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
sabedor
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
avezado
— well-informed and perceptive
Spanish:
conocedor
— well-informed and perceptive
Swedish:
smart
— well-informed and perceptive
Swedish:
slug
— well-informed and perceptive
Swedish:
klok
— well-informed and perceptive
Turkish:
akıllı
— well-informed and perceptive
Turkish:
kurnaz
— well-informed and perceptive
Bulgarian:
схващам
(shvaštam)
— (informal) to understand
Czech:
rozumět
— (informal) to understand
Czech:
dovtípit se
— (informal) to understand
Finnish:
tajuta
— (informal) to understand
Finnish:
hiffata
— (informal) to understand
Finnish:
kässätä
— (informal) to understand
French:
piger
— (informal) to understand
German:
kapieren
— (informal) to understand
German:
schnallen
— (informal) to understand
German:
verstehen
— (informal) to understand
Persian:
گرفتن
(gereftan)
— (informal) to understand