audacious

au·da·cious

adjective \ȯ-ˈdā-shəs\

Definition of AUDACIOUS

1

a : intrepidly daring : adventurous <an audacious mountain climber>

b : recklessly bold : rash <an audacious maneuver>

2

: contemptuous of law, religion, or decorum : insolent

3

: marked by originality and verve <audacious experiments>

— au·da·cious·ly adverb

— au·da·cious·ness noun

Examples of AUDACIOUS

1. They have audacious plans for the new school.
2. This is her most audacious film so far.
3. She made an audacious decision to quit her job.
4. Whatever made him think his audacious fiction would sell—especially after a lifetime of literary marginalization—is a mystery, but he has certainly been vindicated. With a rush of work that he did not begin publishing until he was in his forties, he won literary fame in Europe and Latin America. —Valerie Sayers, Commonweal, 13 July 2007
5. This is an audacious claim, and Kramer anticipates, even encourages, the controversy it might provoke. —Gary Greenberg, Harper's, August 2005
6. … Morgan Pressel, the top-ranked female amateur in the country, has charted a less audacious course. A 17-year-old scrapper who gained prominence by tying for second at the U.S. Women's Open in June, Pressel is satisfied with taking on and whipping her own kind. —E.M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 8 Aug. 2005
7. … he owns and operates a seductively spacious jazz club. But that's his day job, his cover. He executes his audacious midnight burglaries outside of the city, working solo, mapping out every detail so that nothing can go wrong, then returning like a phantom. —Owen Gliberman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2001

Origin of AUDACIOUS

Middle French audacieux, from audace boldness, from Latin audacia, from audac-, audax bold, from audēre to dare, from avidus eager — more at avid

First Known Use: 1550

Related to AUDACIOUS

Synonyms

arch, nervy, bold, bold-faced, brash, brassbound, brassy, brazen, brazen-faced, cheeky, cocksure, cocky, fresh, impertinent, impudent, insolent, sassy, saucy, wise

Antonyms

meek, mousy (or mousey), retiring, shy, timid

Related Words

assertive, forward, obtrusive; nervy, defiant, disrespectful; shameless, unabashed, unblushing; bluff, blunt, curt; cute, facetious, flip, flippant, pert, smart, smart-aleck, smart-alecky; lippy, mouthy

Near Antonyms

demure, humble, modest; courteous, genteel, mannerly, polite, proper; deferential, respectful; abashed, ashamed, blushing, embarrassed, shamefaced; gentle, mild; inconspicuous, unobtrusive

Rhymes with AUDACIOUS

bodacious, capacious, cetaceous, crustaceous, curvaceous, drupaceous, edacious, fallacious, flirtatious, fugacious, hellacious, herbaceous, loquacious, mendacious, micaceous, pomaceous, predaceous, pugnacious, rapacious, rosaceous, sagacious, salacious, sebaceous, sequacious, setaceous, tenacious, testaceous, tufaceous, ungracious, veracious, vinaceous, voracious