audacity
Americannoun
plural
audacities-
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.
Etymology
Origin of audacity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English audacite, equivalent to Latin audāc- (stem of audāx “bold, daring”) + -ity
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.
Gets an extra mark for the audacity of batting at number three.
From BBC
Harry Brook's dance, swipe and miss at Mitchell Starc from his first ball seemed witless in the moment, yet it was Brook's audacity that kept England from a complete implosion.
From BBC
And your vote is the most powerful way to honor a man who dedicated his life to reminding us that bravery is having the audacity to care.
From Los Angeles Times
On the page, it’s a master class in theatrical translation and formal audacity.
It bragged about the academic prestige of its schools and reminded its athletes that they were students first, sneering at all those other schools that had the audacity to win at all costs.
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.
