impudent

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English impudent, originally meaning immodest, shameless, from Latin impudēns (“shameless”), ultimately from in- +‎ pudere (“to feel shame”).^[1]

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpjʊdənt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpjədn̩t/
Audio (US) (file)
Hyphenation: im‧pu‧dent

Adjective edit

impudent (comparative more impudent or (informal) impudenter, superlative most impudent or (informal) impudentest)

Not showing due respect; bold-faced, impertinent.
Synonyms: bold, brazen-faced, insolent; see also Thesaurus:cheeky

The impudent children would not stop talking in class.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 79, column 2:
  Sir Iohn, ſir Iohn, I am well acquainted with your maner of wrenching the true cauſe,the falſe way. It is not a confident brow, nor the throng of wordes, that come with ſuch (more then impudent) ſawcines from you, can thruſt me from a leuell conſideration, […]
- 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Paul’s Further Progress, Growth, and Character”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 75:
  “Wickam,” retorted Mrs. Pipchin, coloring, “is a wicked, impudent, bold-faced hussy.”
- 1877, Emma Jane Worboise, “The New Evangeline”, in The Grey House at Endlestone, London: James Clarke and Co., […]; Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 480:
  And another asked me if I had come to get a Canadian sweetheart; and a third, one of the impudentest, most conceitedest fellows I ever did set eyes upon, nudged me, so that I spilled my coffee all over my second-best damask-silk apron—the one with bugle fringe, you know, Miss Capel—and says he, 'Is it a case of Barkis is willin'?'
(obsolete) Lacking modesty or shame; indelicate.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 252, column 2:
  Dian. Good my Lord,
  Aske him vpon his oath, if hee do’s thinke
  He had not my virginity.
  Kin. What ſaift thou to her?
  Ber. She’s impudent my Lord,
  And was a common gameſter to the Campe.
  Dia. He do’s me wrong my Lord: If I were ſo,
  He might haue bought me at a common price.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 7:13–15:
  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face, said vnto him, I haue peace offerings with me: this day haue I paid my vowes. Therefore came I forth to meete thee, diligently to seeke thy face, and I haue found thee.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus 19:2:
  Wine and women will make men of vnderstanding to fall away, and he that cleaueth to harlots will become impudent.