effrontery
/ɪˈfɹʌntəɹi/ noun
Forms effronteries
- noun (uncountable) Insolent and shameless audacity. “We even had the effrontery to suggest that he should leave the country.”
- noun (countable) An act of insolent and shameless audacity. “Any refusal to salute the president shall be counted as an effrontery.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From late 17th century French effronterie, from effronté (“shameless, insolent”), from Old French esfronté, from Vulgar Latin *exfrontātus. Compare Latin effrōns (“barefaced”), from the prefix ex- (“from”) + frōns (“forehead”) (English: front). By surface analysis, ef- + front + -er + -y.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Impudence or boldness in confronting or in transgressing the bounds of duty or decorum; insulting presumptuousness; shameless boldness; barefaced assurance.
Etymology [F. effronterie, fr. effronté shameless, fr. L. effrons, -ontis, putting forth the forehead, i. e., barefaced, shameless; ex + frons the forehead. See Front.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “effrontery”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details