malapert
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of malapert
1375–1425; late Middle English: insolent < Middle French: unskillful. See mal-, pert
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.
Hush, Bess, thou 'rt malapert," chided her mother, descending heavily into the boat, while a mutinous young voice above called out,— "Nay, I'm not going.
From Standish of Standish A story of the Pilgrims by Austin, Jane G. (Jane Goodwin)
While the real fool "haunted the kitchen and scullery, messing almost with the dogs, and liable, when malapert, to a whipping," the pretended fool was comparatively a companion to the sovereign who engaged his services.
From Connor Magan's Luck and Other Stories by M. T. W.
In Fleet Street we shall come upon Chaucer beating the malapert Franciscan friar; at Temple Bar, stare upwards at the ghastly Jacobite heads.
From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter
"My cheerfulness can bear some strain--but the malapert must be permitted to be silent sometimes when there are serious matters to be considered."
From On the Cross A Romance of the Passion Play at Oberammergau by Hillern, Wilhelmine von
I had a wife—may heaven bless her soul—but when it happened sometimes that she played malapert, I used to mount the high horse, and bring out my thunder.
From Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II. by Morley, John
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.
