SAU'CY, adjective [from sauce; Latin salsus, salt or salted. The use of this word leads to the primary sense of salt, which must be shooting forward, penetrating, pungent, for boldness is a shooting forward.] 1. Impudent; bold to excess; rude; transgressing the rules of decorum; treating superiors with contempt. It expresses more than pert; as a saucy boy; a saucy fellow. 2. Expressive of impudence; as a saucy eye; saucy looks.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI