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IMPUDENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Improperly forward or bold
Example:
Don't get wise with me!
Synonyms:
fresh; impertinent; impudent; overbold; sassy; saucy; smart; wise
Classified under:
Similar:
forward (used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty)
Derivation:
impudence (the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties)
impudence (an impudent statement)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Marked by casual disrespect
Example:
the student was kept in for impudent behavior
Synonyms:
flip; impudent; insolent; snotty-nosed
Classified under:
Similar:
disrespectful (exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous)
Context examples:
Catherine listened with astonishment; she knew not how to reconcile two such very different accounts of the same thing; for she had not been brought up to understand the propensities of a rattle, nor to know to how many idle assertions and impudent falsehoods the excess of vanity will lead.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
“What foolish, impudent creatures!” cried my mother, laughing and covering her face.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
He was a stout young man of middling height, who, with a plain face and ungraceful form, seemed fearful of being too handsome unless he wore the dress of a groom, and too much like a gentleman unless he were easy where he ought to be civil, and impudent where he might be allowed to be easy.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Go along, you dog, do! cried the little creature, making a whisk at him with the handkerchief with which she was wiping her face, and don't be impudent!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
When you take the liberty of calling me mean or base, or anything of that sort, you are an impudent beggar.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
