impertinence

[im-pur-tn-uh ns]

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noun

unmannerly intrusion or presumption; insolence.

impertinent quality or action.

something impertinent, as an act or statement.

an impertinent person.

irrelevance, inappropriateness, or absurdity.

Origin of impertinence

First recorded in 1595–1605; impertin(ency) + -ence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for impertinence

nerve, impropriety, gall, wisecrack, presumption, crust, lip, hardihood, impudence, assurance, incivility, brazenness, forwardness, disrespect, rudeness, chutzpah, effrontery, guff, sass, cheek

Examples from the Web for impertinence

Historical Examples of impertinence

I have already given you specimens of Mrs. Betty's impertinence.
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
Only the emergency could have spurred him to the point of so outrageous an impertinence.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
Your coming here is an affront, an impertinence, an audacity.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
This was a little nearer to impertinence than anything she had before encountered.
The Widow O'Callaghan's Boys
Gulielma Zollinger
I am glad that Princess Mary is ill; they might be guilty of some impertinence towards her.
A Hero of Our Time
M. Y. Lermontov

British Dictionary definitions for impertinence

impertinence

impertinency

noun

disrespectful behaviour or language; rudeness; insolence

an impertinent act, gesture, etc

rare lack of pertinence; irrelevance; inappropriateness

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impertinence

c.1600, from French impertinence, from Medieval Latin impertinentia, from Late Latin impertinentem "not belonging" (see impertinent). Impertinency is from 1580s.