ENGLISH
REFERENCE

savvy

adj. · v.
US //ˈsævi// UK //sˈævi// savvy
  1. 1 shrewd and well-informed (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    having practical knowledge and making good judgments about a specific subject.

    possessing shrewdness and practical knowledge; often used in a specific domain to indicate competence and discernment.

    Example

    She is a savvy investor who always knows when to buy stocks.

    Example

    The savvy marketing executive recognised that the campaign's success depended more on social media engagement than traditional television advertising.

    Usage

    Commonly used in compound adjectives like 'tech-savvy' or 'media-savvy'.
  2. 2 to understand (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Informal Slang

    to understand or get the point of something.

    to comprehend or understand; frequently used as a tag question to confirm the listener's understanding.

    Example

    We need to keep this a secret, savvy?

    Example

    The captain explained the plan quickly and ended with a sharp 'savvy?' to ensure his crew was ready for the mission.

    Teacher's tip

    As a verb, this is often associated with pirate tropes or older slang; in modern speech, it is mostly used as a one-word question.
Origin

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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026