audacity
Americannoun
-
boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions.
- Synonyms:
- foolhardiness, temerity, grit, spunk, nerve
- Antonyms:
- prudence, discretion
-
effrontery or insolence; shameless boldness.
His questioner's audacity shocked the lecturer.
- Synonyms:
- brashness, impertinence, impudence
- Antonyms:
- discretion, prudence
-
Usually audacities audacious or particularly bold or daring acts or statements.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of audacity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English audacite, equivalent to Latin audāc- (stem of audāx “bold, daring”) + -ity
Explanation
If you have audacity then you're one daring — and perhaps reckless — character. Running a red light with three previous tickets under your belt certainly shows audacity. And stupidity. The noun audacity developed from the Latin word audacitas, which means “boldness." So someone who shows audacity makes bold moves — and isn't afraid of the consequences. Audacity can be admired or frowned upon, depending how far it's taken and how it rears its head. But as former British Prime Minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Success is the child of audacity.”
Vocabulary lists containing audacity
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Big Bang” puts readers in the midst of this monumental scientific debate, while demonstrating that, for all its audacity, “the Big Bang model can be understood by everyone.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
They read midlife modesty, not stoke; they’re lacking in the joyous, playful audacity that Kasparian and her team infused into their groundbreaking designs.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
"Some people have had the audacity to ask if it was a cross!" he later told BBC Radio 5 live.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Operating on a mixture of audacity, talent, and sheer guts, Bertei became part of the No Wave scene that existed immediately adjacent to the Punk Rock Class of 1975.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
“You puzzle me, Jane: your look and tone of sorrowful audacity perplex and pain me. I want an explanation.”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
