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.
Taylor Farms quickly issued an audacious statement: “Today, FDA apologized to us,” which is not what the agency did.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Yet “The Vampire Lestat” asks viewers to believe something as audacious as a centuries-old vampire still being able to captivate people, launch a music career and inspire a movement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
Moraff and Fan had no ties to Maine or to the Democratic Party’s election machinery, which made their mission all the more audacious: to recruit a working-class candidate to run for the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
It is both audacious and completely appropriate, but it is also a moment for the audience, it is a mountain top, it is a beacon of hope.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
Negotiating furiously, he assembled a force of as many as 200,000 men and built thirteen big ships in an audacious plan to assault Tenochtitlan from the water.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
