Insolent \In"so*lent\, a. [F. insolent, L. insolens, -entis,
pref. in- not + solens accustomed, p. pr. of solere to be
accustomed.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Deviating from that which is customary; novel; strange;
unusual. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
If one chance to derive any word from the Latin
which is insolent to their ears . . . they forthwith
make a jest at it. --Pettie.
[1913 Webster]
If any should accuse me of being new or insolent.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Haughty and contemptuous or brutal in behavior or
language; overbearing; domineering; grossly rude or
disrespectful; saucy; as, an insolent master; an insolent
servant. "A paltry, insolent fellow." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Insolent is he that despiseth in his judgment all
other folks as in regard of his value, of his
cunning, of his speaking, and of his bearing.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Can you not see? or will ye not observe . . .
How insolent of late he is become,
How proud, how peremptory? --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Proceeding from or characterized by insolence; insulting;
as, insolent words or behavior.
[1913 Webster]
Their insolent triumph excited . . . indignation.
--Macaulay.
Syn: Overbearing; insulting; abusive; offensive; saucy;
impudent; audacious; pert; impertinent; rude;
reproachful; opprobrious.
Usage: Insolent, Insulting. Insolent, in its primitive
sense, simply denoted unusual; and to act insolently
was to act in violation of the established rules of
social intercourse. He who did this was insolent; and
thus the word became one of the most offensive in our
language, indicating gross disregard for the feelings
of others. Insulting denotes a personal attack, either
in words or actions, indicative either of scorn or
triumph. Compare Impertinent, Affront,
Impudence.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
insolent
adj 1: marked by casual disrespect; "a flip answer to serious
question"; "the student was kept in for impudent
behavior" [syn: impudent, snotty-nosed, flip]
2: unrestrained by convention or propriety; "an audacious trick
to pull"; "a barefaced hypocrite"; "the most bodacious
display of tourism this side of Anaheim"- Los Angeles
Times; "bold-faced lies"; "brazen arrogance"; "the modern
world with its quick material successes and insolent
belief in the boundless possibilities of progress"-
Bertrand Russell [syn: audacious, barefaced, bodacious,
bold-faced, brassy, brazen, brazen-faced]
WordNet (r) 2.0
114 Moby Thesaurus words for "insolent":
abusive, arrogant, assuming, atrocious, audacious, aweless,
backhand, backhanded, bold, brash, brassy, brazen, brazenfaced,
bumptious, callous, calumnious, cavalier, challenging, cheeky,
cocky, cold, contemptuous, contumelious, cool, crude, daring,
defiant, defying, degrading, derisive, dictatorial, discourteous,
disdainful, disparaging, disregardful, disrespectful, familiar,
forward, fresh, greatly daring, hard, hardened, haughty,
high-and-mighty, hubristic, humiliating, impenitent, imperative,
impertinent, impolite, improvident, imprudent, impudent, inaffable,
incautious, indiscreet, injudicious, insubordinate, insulting,
irreverent, left-handed, lofty, magisterial, obdurate, obtrusive,
offensive, outrageous, overbearing, overbold, overcareless,
overconfident, overpresumptuous, oversure, overweening, peremptory,
pert, presuming, presumptuous, procacious, pushy, rash,
regardless of consequences, ridiculing, rude, saucy, scurrile,
scurrilous, self-appointed, self-elect, supercilious, superior,
temerarious, unabject, unaccommodating, unchary, uncivil,
uncomplaisant, uncontrite, uncourteous, uncourtly, ungallant,
ungracious, unmelted, unpolite, unrepentant, unrepenting,
unsoftened, unspeakable, untouched, unwary, uppish, uppity, wise,
would-be
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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