effrontery

American  

[ih-fruhn-tuh-ree] / ɪˈfrʌn tə ri /

noun

plural

effronteries

1. shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity.

   She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.

   Synonyms:

   cheek, impudence, impertinence

2. an act or instance of this.

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effrontery British  

/ ɪˈfrʌntərɪ /

noun

1. shameless or insolent boldness; impudent presumption; audacity; temerity

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Etymology

Origin of effrontery

1705–15; < French effronterie, equivalent to Old French esfront shameless ( es- ex- ¹ + front brow; front ) + -erie -ery

Example Sentences

One provision stands out for its sheer effrontery.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025

They are apparently seething over his rude effrontery, the serve-my-whims, feed-me-another-grape demands that they “indemnify” him from anything, ever, before he will free them from his odious presence by selling.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2023

The four band members were low-born Northerners from a dingy port town with no formal education; their success was against the natural order of things, an act of effrontery.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2023

Walters, who died Friday at 93, was America’s Grand Inquisitor, a groundbreaking journalist who was unafraid to probe the unapproachable with people unaccustomed to such effrontery.

From Slate • Dec. 31, 2022

Perhaps he had found a means of assaulting the effrontery of M. Minkoff.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole