audacious

English

Etymology

From Latin audacia (“boldness”) + -ious, from audax (“bold”), from audeō (“to be bold, to dare”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: ô-dāʹshəs IPA(key): /ɔːˈdeɪ.ʃəs/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (US) enPR: ô-dāʹshəs IPA(key): /ɔˈdeɪ.ʃəs/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɑˈdeɪ.ʃəs/
  • Hyphenation: au‧da‧cious
  • Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Adjective

audacious (comparative more audacious, superlative most audacious)

  1. Showing willingness to take bold risks; recklessly daring.
    Synonyms: bold, daring, courageous, intrepid, venturesome, temeritous, temerarious
    Antonyms: shy, cautious, prudent
    • 1871, Anthony Trollope, The Eustace Diamonds:
      It was an audacious thing for her to attempt, but boldness had often served her turn before.
    • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club‎[1], archived from the original on 27 March 2013:
      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], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 December 2020:
      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.
    • 2022 May 14, Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta, “Cuba sees hints of recovery, announces "audacious" measures to tame inflation”, in Reuters‎[3], archived from the original on 23 July 2022:
      Cuba’s economy minister described "audacious" measures to tame inflation…
  2. Impudent, insolent.
    Synonyms: impudent, presumptuous, brazen, cheeky

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

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