-pants

English

Etymology

Extracted from fancypants.

Suffix

-pants

1. (informal, usually pejorative) Used with adjectives ending in -y to form nicknames based on a negative quality of a person.

   bossypants, fancypants, smarty pants, greedy-pants, pouty pants

   • 1986, Babette Cole, Princess Smartypants, Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-11885-9:

     [book title]

   • 1999, Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach: A Novel, Abacus, (cited from Houghton Mifflin/Mariner Books, 2002, ISBN 978-0-618-21905-6), p. 91:

     We used to call her Miss Bossy Pants when she was a kid.

   • 2005, Lauren Myracle, Rhyme with Witches, Amulet Books, ISBN 978-0-8109-9215-3, p. 21:

     You had to pull one of your stupid disappearing tricks because you were being a pouty-pants.

   • 2012, April 21, Meghan McCarthy, "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1" [television episode], My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:

     Gee, maybe her name should be "Princess Demandy Pants".

Usage notes

• Usually the adjective must be two syllable long, eventually with an interfix if the original adjective is only one syllable.
• As with fancypants usage has not yet settled as to whether this should be fused, linked with an hyphen as a suffixoid or fused like a normal affix.

Derived terms

See also

• Captain Obvious