impertinent
adjective
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English speakers adopted both impertinent and pertinent from Anglo-French in the 14th century. Both words derive from the present participle of the Latin verb pertinēre, meaning "to pertain." Initially, impertinent was used for things that are simply not relevant. Over time, it came to be used of things that are not only irrelevant but rudely or inappropriately so, and later for people who are just straight-out rude.
Synonyms
Examples of impertinent in a Sentence
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2023
The big thing bugging Danny, though, is the impertinent presence of Roberta (Aubrey Plaza), who wants to move past drunken conversation and kick up some kind of romance.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023
Members of a generation who care more about etiquette would not write rude, impertinent letters in the first place.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
That used to be an easy—if impertinent—question to answer.
—April Long, Town & Country, 23 June 2023
This weirdly impertinent email came in response to a column guilty only of discussing why a carbon tax would be better than our current climate policies, and why such a tax seemed a heavy political lift only because of the abyss of rancorous tribalism into which the climate discussion has fallen.
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 10 June 2022
Yet somehow, the idea persists that actually asking for it is impertinent.
—Eben Weiss, Outside Online, 2 Mar. 2023
Mellissa Carone, who had worked in I.T. support for Dominion Voting Systems — a company that provided election technology to most Michigan counties — waxed wild and impertinent as soon as lawmakers started asking her questions, flinging claims of every kind of fraud imaginable.
—New York Times, 17 Dec. 2020
And from the driver's seat, the thing looks racy, sporting a short, fallaway hood and sweeping lines (accentuated in the CRX by the roof tapering down behind your head to an impertinent little ducktail).
—Kevin Smith, Car and Driver, 4 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impertinent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Impertinent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impertinent. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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impertinent
adjective
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