impertinence
[im-pur-tn-uh ns]
- unmannerly intrusion or presumption; insolence.
- impertinent quality or action.
- something impertinent, as an act or statement.
- an impertinent person.
- irrelevance, inappropriateness, or absurdity.
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Origin of impertinence
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
nerveimproprietygallwisecrackpresumptioncrustliphardihoodimpudenceassuranceincivilitybrazennessforwardnessdisrespectrudenesschutzpaheffronteryguffsasscheekExamples from the Web for impertinence
Historical Examples
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 HunterLouis Joseph Vance
Your coming here is an affront, an impertinence, an audacity.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
This was a little nearer to impertinence than anything she had before encountered.
The Widow O'Callaghan's BoysGulielma Zollinger
I am glad that Princess Mary is ill; they might be guilty of some impertinence towards her.
A Hero of Our TimeM. Y. Lermontov
impertinence
impertinency
- disrespectful behaviour or language; rudeness; insolence
- an impertinent act, gesture, etc
- rare lack of pertinence; irrelevance; inappropriateness
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for impertinence
n.
c.1600, from French impertinence, from Medieval Latin impertinentia, from Late Latin impertinentem "not belonging" (see impertinent). Impertinency is from 1580s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper