brazen

[brey-zuhn]

adjective

1. shameless or impudent.

   brazen presumption.

   Synonyms: brassy, defiant, insolent

2. made of brass.

3. like brass, as in sound, color, or strength.

   Synonyms: brassy

verb (used with object)

1. to make brazen or bold.

verb phrase

1. brazen out / through,  to face boldly or shamelessly.

   He prefers to brazen it out rather than admit defeat.

brazen

/ ˈbreɪzən /

adjective

1. shameless and bold

2. made of or resembling brass

3. having a ringing metallic sound like that of a brass trumpet

verb

1. to face and overcome boldly or shamelessly

   the witness brazened out the prosecutor's questions

2. to make (oneself, etc) bold or brash

Other Word Forms

• brazenly adverb
• brazenness noun
• outbrazen verb (used with object)
• unbrazen adjective
• unbrazenness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of brazen¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English brasen (adjective), Old English bræsen “(made) of brass”; brass

Word History and Origins

Origin of brazen¹

Old English bræsen , from bræs _brass

Synonym Study

See bold.

Example Sentences

What's more, he suggests, it's brazen: "There's no secret made about it."

Read more on BBC

The brazen robbery of the Louvre on Oct.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Russia, which launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in 2022, regularly accuses Kyiv and its European allies of brazen sabotage operations on its soil, often without providing evidence.

Read more on Barron's

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Counter Terrorism Division, said: "Phillips was brazen in his pursuit for financial gain, and unbothered about the potential detriment to his own country."

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For more than a decade as commander of Houthi forces, his playbook has been to keep challenging more formidable opponents with brazen missile attacks, gambling they have more to lose than he does.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• audacious 
• blatant 
• bold 
• impudent 
• shameless 
• unabashed