Impertinent

English

Adjective

Impertinent (comparative more Impertinent, superlative most Impertinent)

1. insolent, ill-mannered
2. irrelevant (opposite of pertinent)

Notes

Although, historically, definition 2 was the original (derived from the French below) usage; meaning gradually changed to definition 1. More recently general usage has come to, once again, incorporate definition 2. As many older speakers will consider definition 2 incorrect, avoiding the word altogether may be advisable. The construction "not pertinent" is one possible alternative.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheeky

Adverbs for Impertinent

grossly; ignorantly; foolishly; senselessly; inanely; unreasonably; disrespectfully; deliberately; crudely; purposely; intentionally; subtly; furtively; openly; flagrantly; defiantly; stupidly; unfortunately; idiotically; preposterously; astoundingly; blithely; outlandishly; crassly; brazenly; blatantly; ostentatiously; rudely; superciliously; saucily; pertly; bumptiously; shamelessly; boisterously; swaggeringly; terribly.

Thesaurus

adrift, arrogant, audacious, beside the mark, beside the point, beside the question, biggety, bluff, bold, brash, brassy, brazen, bumptious, busy, busybody, challenging, cheeky, chutzpadik, cocky, contemptuous, crusty, daring, defiant, defying, derisive, discourteous, disdainful, disregardful, disrespectful, extraneous, extrinsic, facy, flip, flippant, foreign, forward, fresh, gally, gratuitous, greatly daring, immaterial, impolite, impudent, inadmissible, inapplicable, inapposite, inappropriate, incidental, inconsequent, inquisitive, insolent, interfering, intrusive, irrelative, irrelevant, malapert, meddlesome, meddling, nervy, nihil ad rem, nonessential, nosy, not at issue, obtrusive, off the subject, offensive, officious, out-of-the-way, parenthetical, pert, presumptuous, prying, pushing, pushy, regardless of consequences, rude, sassy, saucy, self-appointed, smart, smart-alecky, smart-ass, snoopy, uncalled-for, uncivil, unessential, wise-ass

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɪmˈpɜː.tɪ.nənt/, SAMPA: /Im"p3:.tI.nənt/
• (US) IPA: /ɪmˈpɝʔ.nənt/, SAMPA: /Imp3`?n@nt/

• Audio (US)

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Translations

insolent, ill-mannered

Czech: nestydatý (cs) m., drzý (cs) m. Dutch: impertinent (nl) German: unverschämt (de) Hungarian: szemtelen (hu)

Polish: impertynent (pl) m. Russian: дерзкий (ru) (dérzkij), нахальный (ru) (naxál'nyj), наглый (ru) (náglyj) Swedish: uppstudsig (sv), oförskämd (sv), näsvis (sv), impertinent (sv)

irrelevant

Bulgarian: неуместен, неподходящ (bg) Czech: nemístný (cs) m. Hungarian: lényegtelen (hu) Polish: niestosowny m., niemający związku m.

Russian: неуместный (ru) (neuméstnyj), неподходящий (ru) (nepodxodjáščij), неотносящийся (ru) (neotnosjáščijsja) Swedish: ovidkommande (sv), irrelevant (sv)

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Dutch

Adjective

Impertinent (comparative Impertinenter, superlative Impertinentst)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

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French

Adjective

Impertinent m. (f. Impertinente, m. plural Impertinents, f. plural Impertinentes)

1. irrelevant

Antonyms

• pertinent

Pronunciation

• Audio (Paris)

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  (file)

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German

Adjective

Impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative am impertinentesten)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Related terms

• Impertinenz