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effrontery

 - 3 dictionary results

ef⋅fron⋅ter⋅y

  [i-fruhn-tuh-ree]
Use effrontery in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ter⋅ies.
1. shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity: She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.
2. an act or instance of this.
Origin:
1705–15; < F effronterie, equiv. to OF esfront shameless (es- ex- 1 + front brow; see front ) + -erie -ery

Synonyms:
1. impertinence, impudence, cheek.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To effrontery
ef·front·er·y   (ĭ-frŭn'tə-rē)   
n.   pl. ef·front·er·ies
Brazen boldness; presumptuousness.

[French effronterie, from effronté, shameless, from Old French esfronte, from Vulgar Latin *effrontātus, alteration of Late Latin effrōns, effront- : ex-, ex- + frōns, front-, front, forehead.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

effrontery 
1715, from Fr. effronterie, from effronte "shameless," from O.Fr. esfronte, probably from L.L. effrontem (nom. effrons) "barefaced," from L. ex- "out" + frontem (nom. frons) "brow" (see front). L. frontus had a sense of "ability to blush," but the lit. sense of effrontery has usually been taken to be "putting forth the forehead."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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