Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
impertinent - 5 dictionary results
im⋅per⋅ti⋅nent
[im-pur-tn-uh
nt] 
–adjective
| 1. | intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently rude; uncivil: a brash, impertinent youth. |
| 2. | not pertinent or relevant; irrelevant: an impertinent detail. |
| 3. | Archaic. inappropriate, incongruous, or absurd. |
| 4. | Obsolete. (of persons) trivial, silly, or absurd. |
Related forms:
im⋅per⋅ti⋅nent⋅ly, adverb
im⋅per⋅ti⋅nent⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. fresh, bold, insulting, officious, saucy, pert, brazen. Impertinent, impudent, insolent refer to bold, rude, and arrogant behavior. Impertinent, from its primary meaning of not pertinent and hence inappropriate or out of place, has come to imply often an unseemly intrusion into what does not concern one, or a presumptuous rudeness toward one entitled to deference or respect: an impertinent interruption, question, manner toward a teacher. Impudent suggests a bold and shameless impertinence: an impudent speech, young rascal. Insolent suggests insulting or arrogantly contemptuous behavior: unbearably insolent toward those in authority.
1. fresh, bold, insulting, officious, saucy, pert, brazen. Impertinent, impudent, insolent refer to bold, rude, and arrogant behavior. Impertinent, from its primary meaning of not pertinent and hence inappropriate or out of place, has come to imply often an unseemly intrusion into what does not concern one, or a presumptuous rudeness toward one entitled to deference or respect: an impertinent interruption, question, manner toward a teacher. Impudent suggests a bold and shameless impertinence: an impudent speech, young rascal. Insolent suggests insulting or arrogantly contemptuous behavior: unbearably insolent toward those in authority.
Antonyms:
1. polite.
1. polite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To impertinent
| im·per·ti·nent (ĭm-pûr'tn-ənt) adj.
[Middle English, irrelevant, from Old French, from Late Latin impertinēns, impertinent- : Latin in-, not; see in-1 + Latin pertinēns, pertinent; see pertinent.] im·per'ti·nent·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Impertinent
Im*per"ti*nent\, a. [F., fr. L. impertinens, -entis; pref. im- not + pertinens. See Pertinent.]1. Not pertinent; not pertaining to the matter in hand; having no bearing on the subject; not to the point; irrelevant; inapplicable. Things that are impertinent to us. --Tillotson. How impertinent that grief was which served no end! --Jer. Taylor. 2. Contrary to, or offending against, the rules of propriety or good breeding; guilty of, or prone to, rude, unbecoming, or uncivil words or actions; as, an impertient coxcomb; an impertient remark. 3. Trifing; inattentive; frivolous. Syn: Rude; officious; intrusive; saucy; unmannerly; meddlesome; disrespectful; impudent; insolent. Usage: Impertinent, Officious, Rude. A person is officious who obtrudes his offices or assistance where they are not needed; he is impertinent when he intermeddles in things with which he has no concern. The former shows a want of tact, the latter a want of breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer impudence. A person is rude when he violates the proprieties of social life either from ignorance or wantonness. "An impertinent man will ask questions for the mere grafication of curiosity; a rude man will burst into the room of another, or push against his person, inviolant of all decorum; one who is officious is quite as unfortunate as he is troublesome; when he strives to serve, he has the misfortune to annoy." --Crabb. See Impudence, and Insolent.Impertinent
Im*per"ti*nent\, n. An impertinent person. [R.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : impertinent
Spanish:
impertinente,
German:
unverschämt,
Japanese:
生意気な
impertinent
c.1380, "unconnected, unrelated," from L.L. impertinentem (nom. impertinens) "not belonging," lit. "not to the point," from L. in- "not" + pertinens (see pertinent). Sense of "rudely bold" is 1681, probably modeled on similar use in Fr., esp. by Molière, from notion of meddling with what is beyond one's proper sphere.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
