AUDACIOUS Synonyms: 211 Similar and Opposite Words

audacious

adjective

ȯ-ˈdā-shəs

Definition of audacious

as in bold

displaying or marked by rude boldness with an audacious disregard for innocent bystanders, rival gang members opened fire

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in courageous

foolishly adventurous or bold an audacious effort to start her own business with no real plan or funding

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in adventurous

inclined or willing to take risks audacious adventurers risking everything they had for a shot at glory

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of audacious His audacious opening strike was voted the Goal of the Tournament and also won the FIFA Puskás Award that year, the only World Cup goal to have done so. — Tushaar Kuthiala, Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 July 2026 Their only inheritance is a legacy of two-bit crime that inspires them to run increasingly audacious frauds. — Joe Otterson, Variety, 15 July 2026 And somehow, the album was still more audacious and ambitious than that description implies. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026 The process that takes place inside the oceans and seas has stayed away from human observation for millennia, until a team led by geophysicist Jean-Yves Royer took an audacious step to record it. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for audacious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for audacious

Adjective

One bold element makes an impact, but wouldn’t both be overwhelming?

— Kelsey Mulvey, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
Five of the paintings have been newly cleaned, their brilliant palettes revealing a bold, experimental hand that deployed academic modeling and Impressionistic dissolution side by side.

— Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of bold

Adjective

For the adventurous, there’s the Haulback Challenge rope and bridge course and the Timber Ripper Mountain coaster.

— Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 2 Aug. 2026
Of course, the leopard is also a symbol, for example for the Locarno festival’s adventurous approach to cinema.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of adventurous

Adjective

Very strong, powerful, good feet, good athletic ability — and is working at the consistency part scheme-wise.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 31 July 2026
Sometimes, the wisest career decision is to acknowledge that a leader won't improve and move on, as careers thrive when employees aren't held back by consistently poor leadership.

— Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Definition of wise

Adjective

He was charged with reckless endangerment, graffiti, public lewdness, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, the NYPD said, according to NBC News.

— Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 4 Aug. 2026
The unlicensed doctor who runs the clinic, Luis Rojas Cabrera, was arrested for practicing without a license and reckless endangerment.

— Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of reckless

Adjective

There was plenty of action on Swiss National Day in Lausanne, with unfortunate crashes and a daring breakaway, but the top teams’ desire for that first leader’s jersey was always going to win out.

— Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026
These tumultuous incidents are bound by a daring half-hour-long scene of the driver’s erotic overnight reunion with his hard-living girlfriend, who wants to adopt the child.

— Rhoda Feng, New Yorker, 31 July 2026

Definition of daring

Adjective

Their alliance signaled a brazen ambition to build the next great consumer product—this time for the AI age, and a bet that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, could unseat the likes of Apple using the iPhone maker’s former design star.

— Emily Forlini, Fortune, 22 July 2026
Nine months after a brazen jewel heist left the Louvre scrambling, the museum has finally reopened the Apollo Gallery, where four masked thieves stole eight items valued collectively at $102 million.

— News Desk, Artforum, 22 July 2026

Definition of brazen

Adjective

But Mama’s imagination helps the time pass more quickly, and the duo become brave knights protecting from a dragon from a prince, or heroes capturing art thieves at a museum.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Aug. 2026
The sight of the lone rider desperately trying to hold on as the crowd roars them towards the line is magical, despite such brave attempts rarely being successful.

— Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of brave

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“Audacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/audacious. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of audacious

adjective

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