audacious
Americanadjective
-
extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless.
an audacious explorer.
- Synonyms:
- venturesome, dauntless, intrepid, courageous
- Antonyms:
- cowardly
-
extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive.
an audacious vision of the city's bright future.
-
recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen.
- Synonyms:
- forward, impertinent, shameless, unabashed
-
lively; unrestrained; uninhibited.
an audacious interpretation of her role.
adjective
-
recklessly bold or daring; fearless
-
impudent or presumptuous
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of audacious
First recorded in 1540–50; audaci(ty) + -ous
Explanation
This adjective is very bold — if you are audacious, you are daring and unconventional! The adjective audacious comes from the Latin word audacia and means "daring, boldness, courage," and often gets applied in situations where someone does something pretty unusual, like becoming an astronaut and going to the moon. It can also mean challenging conventions and doing things that most people don't do, such as when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to become a doctor. Blackwell then inspired Elizabeth Garrett Anderson to become the first female doctor in England. And the rest is history!
Vocabulary lists containing audacious
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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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.
She is the author of “Bad Feminist,” “Hunger” and “Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business,” among other works, and the founder of the Audacious Book Club.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Appeared in the December 6, 2025, print edition as 'History at an Audacious Scale'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
A TED Audacious Project backing "wishes" by people seeking to do good has generated more than $3 billion for projects to make the world more sustainable, just, or beautiful, according to organizers.
From Barron's • Oct. 15, 2025
The Human Fear is filled with ideas fresh to the group, from orchestral flourishes on recent single Audacious to a bouzouki being used on Black Eyelashes and the Celtic style riff pulsing through Cats.
From BBC • Dec. 24, 2024
The Audacious had suffered so severely in the unequal fight that she was obliged to return to Plymouth to repair damages.
From By Conduct and Courage A Story of the Days of Nelson by Rainey, W. (William)
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.
