impolite
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impolite
First recorded in 1605–15, impolite is from the Latin word impolītus rough, unpolished. See im- 2, polite
Explanation
If you're impolite, you have terrible manners: you're rude. Small children whose parents teach them not to be impolite learn early to say "please" and "thank you." Acting disrespectful or ungracious is impolite, like when your impolite sister helps herself to the birthday cake you just made for your dad, or pushes in front of other people in line for a movie. The opposite of impolite is polite, which comes from the Latin word politus, figuratively meaning "refined or elegant," and literally, "polished." When you add the im-, you get the sense of "not" or "the opposite of."
Vocabulary lists containing impolite
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: in-, im-, il-, ir-
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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.
Impolite candor is a pattern with him, and his dark sarcasm has become the artistic expression of his self-loathing.
From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2023
The house used to belong to Rose Impoliteri, a bucket of bright Italian paint on New York’s stolid white canvas, and a riot of premonitory associations: Rose the Impolite, Rose the Loitering, Rose the Impish.
From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2017
Impolite, the bull charged the car, butted it 15 ft. backwards.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yet you'll learn, if you are Bright, Politeness from the Impolite.
From Goops and How to Be Them by Burgess, Gelett
Impolite, discourteous, inurbane, uncivil, rude, disrespectful, pert, saucy, impertinent, impudent, insolent.
From The Century Vocabulary Builder by Bachelor, Joseph M. (Joseph Morris)
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.
