| English Dictionary |
IMPUDENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does impudent mean?
• IMPUDENT (adjective)
The adjective IMPUDENT has 2 senses:
1. marked by casual disrespect
2. improperly forward or bold
Familiarity information: IMPUDENT used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Marked by casual disrespect
Synonyms:
flip; impudent; insolent; snotty-nosed
Context example:
the student was kept in for impudent behavior
Similar:
disrespectful (exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Improperly forward or bold
Synonyms:
fresh; impertinent; impudent; overbold; sassy; saucy; smart; wise
Context example:
Don't get wise with me!
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)
Context examples
You are always a beggar, you know; but when you do that, you are an impudent beggar.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
“You are an impudent fellow!” cried Theresa.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
‘The impudent scoundrel!’ I cried. ‘I’ve never so much as seen him in my life.’
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
An odious, little, pert, unnatural, impudent girl.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Oh! no—what an impudent dog I was!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
That is a fiction—an impudent invention to vex me.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Elizabeth had not before believed him quite equal to such assurance; but she sat down, resolving within herself to draw no limits in future to the impudence of an impudent man.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Her professions of attachment were now as disgusting as her excuses were empty, and her demands impudent.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I mentioned what they had said about her, and she laughed, and told me they were impudent fellows who talked nonsense—but I knew it pleased her.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
He was quite as undaunted and as lively as ever; and, after seeing him, Emma thus moralised to herself:—I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Whose end of tongue is sharp, the edge of his head must be hard" (Breton proverb)
"Be aware of the idiot, for he is like an old dress. Every time you patch it, the wind will tear it back again." (Arabic proverb)
"Stretch your legs as far as your quilt goes." (Egyptian proverb)