How to Use insolence in a Sentence

insolence

noun
  • The tone of the race between the insurgents has shocked many for its raw anger and insolence.
    Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 6 May 2017
  • In the old days, high in his castle on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, such insolence could be waved away.
    Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2 June 2017
  • Palpatine tries to murder Luke for his insolence, but Vader’s love for his son proves too much.
    EW.com, 1 Nov. 2019
  • On Monday, Police charged a 36-year-old man in Louisiana for the latest act of ice cream insolence.
    Peter Dawson, Houston Chronicle, 9 July 2019
  • For two weeks, the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on every weekday would be spent reading @realdonaldtrump tweets excoriating them for their insolence.
    Philip Bump, Washington Post, 7 June 2017
  • But genuine fast-break insolence is a quality that’s missing from the lumbering cheek of most of our paint-by-numbers blockbusters.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2022
  • A direct attack on the freedom of the press and the liberty of speech at the North, where alone either exists, were no more incredible than the later insolences of its tyranny ...
    Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2017
  • The footguards, who had long been jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the Praetorian cavalry, embraced the party of the people.
    Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 6 June 2019
  • Through it all – disease and disaster, injuries and insolence – Major League Baseball is on the doorstep of completing its 60-game season.
    Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 16 Sep. 2020
  • Tiger Woods' jaw is slack, not set in defiance, not firm at all, hanging there placidly, without insolence, without resolve.
    Bernie Lincicome, chicagotribune.com, 10 June 2017
  • Self-respect equated with insolence aimed at oppression remains a threat.
    Vivian D. Nixon, Harper's BAZAAR, 28 June 2021
  • Through scandal and plague, injuries and insolence, the Houston Astros remain unstoppable in the American League playoffs.
    Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2020
  • Miss Manners thoroughly disapproves of this guest, whose transgression may have been made out of ignorance but who followed it with insolence.
    Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2021
  • Gary Cohn, like Kelly, cast himself and his core team of trickle-down hucksters as the sole bastion between Trump’s insolence and global economic devastation.
    Nick Martin, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2020
  • Newcastle found Bellamy to be a Jekyll and Hyde character, equally capable of brilliance and insolence, with the two often occurring together.
    SI.com, 31 Oct. 2019
  • Surely, this was the final nail in the countercultural coffin, when the band that personified rebellion and insolence was reduced to having their tour sponsored by a retirement-planning trade group.
    Joe Queenan, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2021
  • For a huge swath of the populace -- a cross-section of generations and political stripes -- the messages exposed the arrogance and insolence of a political elite long divorced from the struggles of ordinary people.
    Ray Sanchez, CNN, 2 Aug. 2019
  • His naïve insolence punctures the vanities of other filmmakers while offering no alternative, and the movie that results is a joyless, confused self-abnegation.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
  • Consequently, the dire state of the planet was pinned on one generation, even lifelong environmentalists, while another was chided for insolence and ignorance.
    Karen Heller, Washington Post, 24 Dec. 2019
  • In one TikTok video, a conservative influencer acts out dramatically refusing a vaccine, getting beaten to death for her insolence and ascending to heaven.
    New York Times, 27 Apr. 2021
  • Maternal indulgence perhaps helps explain Andrew’s sense of entitlement and insolence.
    Simon Usborne, Town & Country, 13 Mar. 2022
  • Might insecurity, then, explain her wearisome insolence?
    Anna Mundow, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2018
  • Among the violations: damage to property, assaulting another inmate, disobeying direct orders and insolence.
    Steve Mills, chicagotribune.com, 17 July 2017
  • Sour cream becomes precious commodity similar to ruthenium or Canadian insolence.
    Henry Alford, The New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2021
  • Misunderstanding can be mistaken for insolence or defiance.
    Christine Sexton, OrlandoSentinel.com, 17 Mar. 2018
  • All the characteristic Winogrand elements are to be found: energy, surprise, voraciousness, avidity, dauntlessness, wit, alertness, muscularity, gusto, slyness, insolence, stunned wonder (that especially).
    Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 20 June 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'insolence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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