effrontery
Americannoun
plural
effronteries-
shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity.
She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.
- Synonyms:
- cheek, impudence, impertinence
-
an act or instance of this.
noun
Etymology
Origin of effrontery
1705–15; < French effronterie, equivalent to Old French esfront shameless ( es- ex- 1 + front brow; front ) + -erie -ery
Explanation
If you rudely behave as if you have a right to something that you have no right to, you're committing effrontery. When a couple stroll into a crowded restaurant, demand the best table, and threaten the staff unless they're seated right away, that's effrontery. People have been guilty of outrageously self-centered behavior at least since 1715, when effrontery was coined. Tracing to the French word effronté, meaning "shameless," the word effrontery is also connected to brazen, which means "of brass," and describes someone so accustomed to effrontery that he's hardened to it and has no concern for the harm done to others.
Vocabulary lists containing effrontery
The Crucible
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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Ethan Frome
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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.
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
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
He seemed to have a desire to shock and had been described as an astounding combination of insight, intuition and effrontery.
From BBC • Jul. 3, 2022
“Shut up over there,” Miss Annie screamed through her shutters as Ignatius gathered his smock about him and swept into the hall contemplating his most important problem: organizing a new assault against the minx’s effrontery.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
