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.
Speaking to Times Radio earlier this month, Turner said he was "already on a conduct warning for having the audacity to say that these proposals are ludicrous".
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
"She was incensed, just really struck by the audacity of stealing a building and flippantly said: 'You should make this into a game'," Myres told the BBC.
From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026
No one has the audacity to try to unseat him, or even to say that he won’t be in charge forever.
From Slate • Dec. 23, 2025
For one, the audacity of its existence — how on earth can anyone justify turning a 450-page book on an unheralded section of Southern California into an 800-page one?
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2025
His forwardness and audacity often caught them off guard.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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.
