Word of the Day

: June 11, 2009

effrontery

noun ih-FRUN-tuh-ree

What It Means

: shameless boldness : insolence

effrontery in Context

The other guests at the party were astonished by the effrontery of Patrick’s insulting behavior toward the host.

Did You Know?

To the Romans, the shameless were "without forehead," at least figuratively. "Effrontery" derives from Latin "effrons," a word that combines the prefix "ex-" (meaning "out" or "without") and "frons" (meaning "forehead" or "brow"). The Romans never used "effrons" literally to mean "without forehead," and theorists aren't in full agreement about the connection between the modern meaning of "effrontery" and the literal senses of its roots. Some explain that "frons" can also refer to the capacity for blushing, so a person without "frons" would be "unblushing" or "shameless." Others theorize that since the Romans believed that the brow was the seat of a person's modesty, being without a brow meant being "immodest," or again, "shameless."