audacious

[aw-dey-shuhs]

adjective

1. extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless.

   an audacious explorer.

   Synonyms: venturesome, dauntless, intrepid, courageous
   Antonyms: cowardly

2. extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive.

   an audacious vision of the city's bright future.

3. recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen.

   Synonyms: forward, impertinent, shameless, unabashed

4. lively; unrestrained; uninhibited.

   an audacious interpretation of her role.

audacious

/ ɔːˈdeɪʃəs, ɔːˈdæsɪtɪ /

adjective

1. recklessly bold or daring; fearless

2. impudent or presumptuous

Other Word Forms

• audaciousness noun
• audaciously adverb
• unaudacious adjective
• unaudaciously adverb
• unaudaciousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of audacious¹

First recorded in 1540–50; audaci(ty) + -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of audacious¹

C16: from Latin audāx bold, from audēre to dare

Example Sentences

Discovery would be their most audacious move yet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As if “Boogie Nights” wasn’t audacious enough, Anderson boldly followed it up with a film of naked vulnerability: an emotional weather report unafraid to risk embarrassment in examining a perpetual dark night of the soul.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The young artist, in an audacious shot across the art world bow, was engaged in a symbolic act of Oedipal homicide.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Tristan Stubbs played an audacious ramp for six which saw the ball fly out of the ground, but tried and failed a second time to be bowled by Jamie Overton for 13.

Read more on BBC

A wide and a dot ball followed after which Cox, who was left out of England's white-ball squads on Friday, played an audacious reverse scoop over third man to the seamer's final ball.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• adventurous 
• bold 
• courageous 
• foolhardy 
• resolute 
• risky