as in insolent
displaying or marked by rude boldness
the guest's impudent inquiries about the cost of just about everything we had in the house
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Recent Examples of impudent
His first goal was pretty enough, an inch-perfect sidefoot just inside Donnarumma’s far post, but his second was a work of impudent art.
—
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Gemma reluctantly agrees to rebuild her impudent robot in a new body, and the sequel ends with an explosive showdown between Amelia and M3GAN, who nearly dies in a noble attempt to save Gemma and her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw).
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 29 June 2025
Fortunately, Snow White’s newfound enlightenment does not deny her the possibility of romance, although princes are now strictly off-limits; her love interest here is a fetchingly impudent bandit, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is leading a scrappy rebellion against the Evil Queen.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2025
One chord appears to speak to the other, sounding almost impudent in their simplicity, equal parts ecstatic and heartbreakingly melancholic.
—Sam Davies, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2025
More specifically, the impudent Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time and turns Link into a Deku Scrub, those antagonistic tree cannons first introduced in Ocarina.
—Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
Lisa is often out of the house and in motion: roaming the aisles of a pharmacy that’s open late and where no one seems to be working; on a bus contending with impudent youths; breaking the rules at a sleep clinic; wasted and lost after a bachelorette party.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
In short, Moscow sees Montenegro as both strategically valuable and an impudent upstart that has thumbed its nose at the Russian bear while genuflecting before NATO and Washington.
—Edward P. Joseph, Foreign Affairs, 22 Dec. 2016
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Gemma reluctantly agrees to rebuild her impudent robot in a new body, and the sequel ends with an explosive showdown between Amelia and M3GAN, who nearly dies in a noble attempt to save Gemma and her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw).
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 29 June 2025
Fortunately, Snow White’s newfound enlightenment does not deny her the possibility of romance, although princes are now strictly off-limits; her love interest here is a fetchingly impudent bandit, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is leading a scrappy rebellion against the Evil Queen.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2025
One chord appears to speak to the other, sounding almost impudent in their simplicity, equal parts ecstatic and heartbreakingly melancholic.
—Sam Davies, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2025
More specifically, the impudent Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time and turns Link into a Deku Scrub, those antagonistic tree cannons first introduced in Ocarina.
—Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
Lisa is often out of the house and in motion: roaming the aisles of a pharmacy that’s open late and where no one seems to be working; on a bus contending with impudent youths; breaking the rules at a sleep clinic; wasted and lost after a bachelorette party.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
In short, Moscow sees Montenegro as both strategically valuable and an impudent upstart that has thumbed its nose at the Russian bear while genuflecting before NATO and Washington.
—Edward P. Joseph, Foreign Affairs, 22 Dec. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impudent
Adjective
-
Malinin’s confidence would be insolent if his acrobatics weren’t so astonishing.—
Sally Jenkins,
The Atlantic,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The fox would once have crushed this insolent creature with a swipe of her paw.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
19 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
No, not the best man, not the most intelligent, the most sophisticated, or the wisest.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
-
During the conversation, Robinson reflected on his years in The Office, playing the wise warehouse worker Darryl Philbin, who continually frustrated manager Michael Scott (Carell) with his confidence and nonchalance.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Authorities say the scheme became more brazen as time went on with at least $510 million worth of Super Micro Computer's servers being diverted to China after their assembly in the United States.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
-
But the reality is far more brazen—most are showing up in person, taking time out of their own working day to sit across the table from their child’s potential employer.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But a closer look will reveal why this is actually one of the boldest fashion moments of the 2026 Oscars.—
Madeline Dangmann,
Glamour,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Use more than five bold-type words.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Then, like water to wine, Moral Orel transformed from a cheeky parody to a challenging, audacious character study.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
-
The figure is cheeky in the same way that MSI's ultra-high-end GeForce RTX 5950 Lightning-Z graphics card, at $5,950, is only semi-serious, given that regular RTX 5950 cards cost less than half that.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That your answer is not believed by these nosy, impertinent people is insulting.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
19 Dec. 2025
-
Every player was given a number and slips of paper and wrote impertinent questions intended for each of the others.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
In a year where anxiety over studio contraction and the rise of artificial intelligence often consumed the industry, both films gave Hollywood fresh hope.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Additionally, any fresh details on Rubin’s successor architecture — dubbed Feynman after theoretical physicist Richard Feynman and planned to debut in 2028 — will be noteworthy, as Nvidia continues to push the envelope on innovation to stay ahead of the competition.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The final movement starts off with a timpani riff, which triggers a cocky dance that invokes Peterson’s high-speed fingers, shooting off at Road Runner pace.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Bassel stands at the center of the frame, looking cocky and slightly bored, with his parents seated in front of him and his siblings on either side.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impudent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impudent. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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