effrontery

[ ih-fruhn-tuh-ree ]
See synonyms for effrontery on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ef·fron·ter·ies.
  1. shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity: She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.

  2. an act or instance of this.

Origin of effrontery

1
1705–15; <French effronterie, equivalent to Old French esfront shameless (es-ex-1 + front brow; see front) + -erie-ery

Other words for effrontery

Words Nearby effrontery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use effrontery in a sentence

  • Last July in Moscow, Magnitsky was given a posthumous punishment for his effrontery by being put on trial for tax evasion.

  • Without real and ingenious effrontery there is not doing anything at court.

  • She had the effrontery to hold the baby up, with his little naked legs kicking in Tanqueray's face.

    The Creators | May Sinclair
  • How dared he have the effrontery to intrude his unclean carcass betwixt the wind and our nobility?

    The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. Wigram
  • The old Bohemian was there, in a humble attitude, little conformable with the effrontery natural to his race.

    Michael Strogoff | Jules Verne

British Dictionary definitions for effrontery

effrontery

/ (ɪˈfrʌntərɪ) /


nounplural -ies
  1. shameless or insolent boldness; impudent presumption; audacity; temerity

Origin of effrontery

1
C18: from French effronterie, from Old French esfront barefaced, shameless, from Late Latin effrons, literally: putting forth one's forehead; see front

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012