audacious

English

Etymology

From Latin audacia (“boldness”), from audax (“bold”), from audeō (“I am bold, I dare”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ô-dāʹshəs IPA^(key): /ɔːˈdeɪʃəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ô-dāʹshəs IPA^(key): /ɔˈdeɪʃəs/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑˈdeɪʃəs/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Adjective

audacious (comparative more audacious, superlative most audacious)

1. Showing willingness to take bold risks; recklessly daring.
   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[1]

     That such a safe adaptation could come of The Hunger Games speaks more to the trilogy’s commercial ascent than the book’s actual content, which is audacious and savvy in its dark calculations.

   • 2014 August 21, “A brazen heist in Paris [print version: International New York Times, 22 August 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     The audacious hijacking in Paris of a van carrying the baggage of a Saudi prince to his private jet is obviously an embarrassment to the French capital, whose ultra-high-end boutiques have suffered a spate of heists in recent months.

2. Impudent, insolent.

Synonyms

• (willing to take bold risks): bold, daring, temeritous, temerarious

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “willing to take bold risks”): shy, cautious, prudent

Derived terms

• audaciously
• audaciousness
• boldacious
• unaudacious

 

Related terms

• audacity
• outdaciousness

 

Translations

showing willingness to take bold risks

• Armenian: քաջ (hy) (kʻaǰ), խիզախ (hy) (xizax), հանդուգն (hy) (handugn)
• Bulgarian: смел (bg) (smel)
• Catalan: audaç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大膽的／大胆的 (dàdǎn de)

• Czech: neohrožený m, statečný (cs) m, odvážný (cs) m, chrabrý m
• Danish: vågehalset, dristig
• Dutch: onvervaard (nl), driest (nl), koen (nl), vermetel (nl), waaghalzig, audacieus (nl)
• Finnish: uskalias (fi), rohkea (fi)
• French: audacieux (fr)
• Galician: audaz (gl)
• German: kühn (de), unverfroren (de), waghalsig (de)
• Hungarian: merész (hu), vakmerő (hu)
• Irish: neamhnáireach
• Italian: audace (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: wêrek (ku), bisteh (ku)

• Latin: audax
• Macedonian: о́дважен (ódvažen), смел (smel)
• Norwegian: dristig

  Bokmål: djerv (no)

• Ottoman Turkish: جسور (cesur)
• Persian: جسور (fa) (jasur), بی‌محابا (bi-mohâbâ), بی‌پروا (fa) (bi-parvâ)
• Plautdietsch: brow
• Portuguese: audaz (pt)
• Russian: отва́жный (ru) (otvážnyj), сме́лый (ru) (smélyj)
• Spanish: audaz (es)
• Swedish: våghalsig (sv), djärv (sv), dristigt (sv)
• Turkish: cesurane (tr), gözü pek (tr)

impudent

• Bulgarian: дързък (bg) (dǎrzǎk)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 厚顏無恥的／厚颜无耻的 (hòuyánwúchǐ de)

• Czech: drzý (cs) m, nestydatý (cs) m, nestoudný (cs) m, bezostyšný (cs) m
• Dutch: schaamteloos (nl), driest (nl)
• Finnish: röyhkeä (fi)
• German: kühn (de), unverfroren (de), dreist (de), dummdreist (de)
• Hungarian: szemtelen (hu)
• Italian: azzardato (it), avventato (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bêşerm (ku), bêar (ku)

• Latin: impudens
• Macedonian: др́зок (dŕzok), на́хален (náhalen)
• Old English: dyrstiġ
• Persian: گستاخ (fa) (gostâx)
• Russian: де́рзкий (ru) (dérzkij), наха́льный (ru) (naxálʹnyj), на́глый (ru) (náglyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: dalm
• Spanish: insolente (es)
• Turkish: arsız (tr), cesurane (tr), gözü pek (tr)

Further reading

• “audacious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “audacious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “audacious”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.