audacity
English
Etymology
From late Middle English audacite, from Medieval Latin audacitas, from Latin audax (“bold”), from audeō (“I am bold, I dare”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: ô-dăʹsĭti, IPA(key): /ɔːˈdæsɪti/
- (US) enPR: ô-dăʹsĭti, IPA(key): /ɔˈdæsɪti/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
audacity (countable and uncountable, plural audacities)
- Insolent boldness, especially when imprudent or unconventional.
- Synonyms: audaciousness, chutzpah, outdaciousness, temerity
- The brash private had the audacity to criticize the general.
- Somebody never pays his loans, yet he has the audacity to ask the bank for money.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
- “Oh?” she said. “So you have decided to revise my guest list for me? You have the nerve, the – the –” I saw she needed helping out. “Audacity,” I said, throwing her the line. “The audacity to dictate to me who I shall have in my house.” It should have been “whom”, but I let it go. “You have the –” “Crust.” “– the immortal rind,” she amended, and I had to admit it was stronger, “to tell me whom” – she got it right that time – “I may entertain at Brinkley Court and who” – wrong again – “I may not.”
- Fearlessness, intrepidity or daring, especially with confident disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions.
Related terms
- audacious
Translations
insolent boldness
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fearless daring
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Further reading
- audacity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- audacity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- audacity at OneLook Dictionary Search