audacious

adjective

au·​da·​cious ȯ-ˈdā-shəs 

1

a

: intrepidly daring : adventurous

an audacious mountain climber

b

: recklessly bold : rash

an audacious maneuver

2

: contemptuous of law, religion, or decorum : insolent

an audacious maverick

3

: marked by originality and verve

audacious experiments

audaciously adverb

audaciousness noun

Did you know?

Fortune favors the bold—or, as ancient Romans are known to have said, “audentes Fortuna iuvat.” Audentes here is the present participle of the Latin verb audēre, meaning “to dare,” a word that also led, via several etymological twists and turns through the centuries, to the English adjective audacious. When it first appeared in English in the mid-1500s, audacious meant “intrepidly daring,” a sense we still use today when we apply the word to various feats of derring-do and those who dare to do them. Since then it has developed several additional meanings, including the closely related “recklessly bold” and “marked by originality and verve,” as in “her audacious new album heralds the future of hip-hop.” Of course, with audacity (another audēre descendent) comes risk that fortune, despite the maxim, doesn’t always favor: as fungi foragers know, there are sagacious mushroomers, and audacious mushroomers, but there are no sagacious audacious mushroomers.

Synonyms

• arch
• bold
• bold-faced
• brash
• brassbound
• brassy
• brazen
• brazen-faced
• cheeky
• cocksure
• cocky
• fresh
• impertinent
• impudent
• insolent
• nervy
• sassy
• saucy
• wise

Examples of audacious in a Sentence

Whatever made him think his audacious fiction would sell—especially after a lifetime of literary marginalization—is a mystery, but he has certainly been vindicated. With a rush of work that he did not begin publishing until he was in his forties, he won literary fame in Europe and Latin America. —Valerie Sayers, Commonweal, 13 July 2007

This is an audacious claim, and Kramer anticipates, even encourages, the controversy it might provoke. —Gary Greenberg, Harper's, August 2005

… Morgan Pressel, the top-ranked female amateur in the country, has charted a less audacious course. A 17-year-old scrapper who gained prominence by tying for second at the U.S. Women's Open in June, Pressel is satisfied with taking on and whipping her own kind. —E. M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 8 Aug. 2005

… he owns and operates a seductively spacious jazz club. But that's his day job, his cover. He executes his audacious midnight burglaries outside of the city, working solo, mapping out every detail so that nothing can go wrong, then returning like a phantom. —Owen Gliberman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2001

They have audacious plans for the new school.

This is her most audacious film so far.

She made an audacious decision to quit her job.

Recent Examples on the Web

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is set to lead this initiative with an audacious goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal spending. —Greg Orme, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

Controlling Morocco will complete the audacious Chinese plan: The Strait, with Morocco at its southern end, is only eight miles wide. —Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024

From her early days in Cambridge to her audacious actions on the world stage, her life was filled with daring exploits, from espionage in Serbia to public protests in Trafalgar Square. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2024

View 3 Images The audacious bid to build what will be the USA's tallest skyscraper in Oklahoma City has hit a snag. —Adam Williams, New Atlas, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French audacieux, from audace "daring, recklessness" (borrowed from Latin audācia, from audāc-, audāx "daring, bold, excessively daring, reckless" + -ia -ia entry 1) + -ieux -ious; audāx from audēre "to intend, dare, venture" (verbal derivative of avidus "ardent, eager, greedy") + -āc-, -āx, deverbal suffix denoting habitual or successful performance (probably going back to Indo-European *-eh₂, noun ending + *-k-, suffixal formative) — more at avid

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

audacious

adjective

au·​da·​cious ȯ-ˈdā-shəs 

1

: very bold and daring : fearless

2

: showing a lack of proper respect

audaciously adverb

audaciousness noun