audacity

au·dac·i·ty

(ô-dăs′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. au·dac·i·ties

1. Fearless daring; intrepidity.

2. Bold or insolent heedlessness of restraints, as of those imposed by prudence, propriety, or convention.

3. An act or instance of intrepidity or insolent heedlessness: warned the students that any audacities committed during the graduation ceremony would be punished.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

au•dac•i•ty

(ɔˈdæs ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. boldness or daring, esp. with confident disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions; nerve.

2. effrontery; shameless boldness.

3. Usu., audacities. audacious acts or statements.

[1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	audacity - fearless daring audaciousness, temerity boldness, hardihood, hardiness, daring - the trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger; "the proposal required great boldness"; "the plan required great hardiness of heart"
	2.	audacity - aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery; "he had the audacity to question my decision" audaciousness boldness, nerve, brass, cheek, face - impudent aggressiveness; "I couldn't believe her boldness"; "he had the effrontery to question my honesty" effrontery, presumptuousness, presumption, assumption - audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to; "he despised them for their presumptuousness"

audacity

noun

1. daring, nerve, courage, guts (informal), bravery, boldness, recklessness, face (informal), front, enterprise, valour, fearlessness, rashness, adventurousness, intrepidity, audaciousness, dauntlessness, venturesomeness I was shocked at the audacity of the gangsters.

2. cheek, nerve, defiance, gall (informal), presumption, rudeness, chutzpah (U.S. & Canad. informal), insolence, impertinence, neck (informal), impudence, effrontery, brass neck (Brit. informal), shamelessness, sassiness (U.S. informal), forwardness, pertness, audaciousness, disrespectfulness He had the audacity to look at his watch while I was talking.

Quotations
"Being tactful in audacity is knowing how far one can go too far" [Jean Cocteau Le Rappel à l'ordre]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

audacity

noun

1. Willingness to take risks:

adventuresomeness, adventurousness, audaciousness, boldness, daredevilry, daredeviltry, daring, daringness, venturesomeness, venturousness.

2. The state or quality of being impudent or arrogantly self-confident:

Informal: brass, crust, sauce, uppishness, uppityness.

Translations

جريء، جَسور

odvaha

dristighedfrækhed

Kühnheit

θράσος

abaldonamiento

julkeusuhkarohkeus

audace

rettenthetetlenségvakmerőségbátorság

dirfska

audacia faccia tosta impudenza sfrontatezza

dristighet frekkhet

дерзость смелость

cüretgözüpeklik

大胆

audacity

[ɔːˈdæsɪtɪ] N

1. (= boldness) → audacia f, osadía f

2. (= impudence) → atrevimiento m, descaro m
to have the audacity to do sth → tener el descaro de hacer algo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

audacity

[ɔːˈdæsɪti] n (= daring) → audace f
to have the audacity to do sth → avoir l'audace de faire qch

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

audacity

, audaciousness

(= impudence) → Dreistigkeit f, → Unverfrorenheit f; to have the audacity to do something → die Dreistigkeit or Unverfrorenheit besitzen, etw zu tun

(= boldness) → Kühnheit, Verwegenheit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

audacity

[ɔːˈdæsɪtɪ] n (boldness) → audacia; (impudence) → sfacciataggine f, sfrontatezza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

audacious

(oːˈdeiʃəs) adjective

bold and daring. an audacious plan.

auˈdacity (-ˈdӕsə-) noun

References in classic literature ?

They never startled you by a touch of originality, by a fresh audacity of inspiration.

View in context

(where Beaufort had had the audacity to hang "Love Victorious," the much-discussed nude of Bouguereau) Archer found Mrs.

View in context

A woman of brilliance and audacity, accompanied by a mere boy, came into the place and took seats near them.

View in context

Her mother sought out an excellent match for her, and even brought the gentleman to lay his heart and fortune at her feet; but Esther had the audacity to refuse the noble gifts.

View in context

Horses, however, are the especial objects of their depredations, and their skill and audacity in stealing them are said to be astonishing.

View in context

Let us exercise some small audacity! My head is not one of those the executioner strikes off for disobedience.

View in context

Anatole was sincerely fond of Dolokhov for his cleverness and audacity. Dolokhov, who needed Anatole Kuragin's name, position, and connections as a bait to draw rich young men into his gambling set, made use of him and amused himself at his expense without letting the other feel it.

View in context

To hint to such musked mariners of oil, and bone, and blubber, were little short of audacity. They know not the thing you distantly allude to.

View in context

She is, therefore, always, woman-like, a lover of young men, because they are less cautious, more violent, and with more audacity command her.

View in context

They had the audacity to make such a proposition as that to me!

View in context

And this last form of jealousy tortured her most of all, especially as he had unwarily told her, in a moment of frankness, that his mother knew him so little that she had had the audacity to try and persuade him to marry the young Princess Sorokina.

View in context

With characteristic promptness and audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt that the boots or chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him in his design.