brazen
/ˈbreɪz(ə)n
/adjective
1Bold and without shame: he went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance a brazen hussy...
- However, sometimes a brazen BFF is so bold, brash and fearless that her naughty behavior threatens to get you both in deep trouble.
- Is he going to be this brazen, this bold all the time?
- The brazen birds are becoming bolder by the year, encouraged by litter from takeaway meals and thoughtless people who throw them food.
Synonyms
bold, shameless, as bold as brass, brazen-faced, forward, presumptuous, brash, immodest, unashamed, unabashed, unembarrassed, unblushing;
defiant, impudent, insolent, impertinent, cheeky, pert;
barefaced, blatant, flagrant, undisguised
informal brassy, pushy
British informal saucy
2 literary or archaic Made of brass: brazen fire irons...
- Among the Barcaeans there was a skilled worker in brass who took a brazen shield and, carrying it round within the wall, applied it here and there at places where he thought the workings might be.
- In the circuit of the wall are 100 gates, all of brass with brazen lintels.
- It provided easy access into the building for the items that both vestries and vandals are fond of: silverware, brassware, bells and brazen censers.
Synonyms
brass, made of brass, metallic
2.1Harsh in sound: the music’s brazen chords...
- This is the first good 60s track we've had, it sounds like a brazen attempt to keep ‘up to date’, fusing beat elements to Shannon's basic unchanging style.
- The first movement is full of blistering winds and brazen sounds, as from an ancient, pagan army.
- David asked, hoping to make himself sound brazen as he returned the phone to his ear.
verb [with object] (brazen something out)
Endure an embarrassing or difficult situation by behaving with apparent confidence and lack of shame: there was nothing to do but brazen it out...
- Of course, if we had brazened it out a bit more people might hardly have noticed.
- In some scenes Bond brazens it out, fists flailing or guns blazing, to pick off the enemy, but most of the time greater cunning is needed.
- The signs that Mr Molloy was brazening things out meant things were getting better and better for the Opposition.
Synonyms
put on a bold front, put a bold face on it, be defiant, be unrepentant, be impenitent, be unashamed, be unabashed, stand one's ground
Derivatives
brazenness
/ noun ...- The characteristic coyness of the oriental female and her tendency to a reserve in manners are being replaced by uninhibited straight forwardness and an audacity bordering on brazenness.
- What he is doing, not only by committing these acts, but by having the audacity, the brazenness to film them and then immediately post them on the Internet for all to see - he's sending a double message.
- I simply couldn't believe the audacity, the brazenness of it.
Origin
Old English bræsen 'made of brass', from bræs 'brass', of unknown ultimate origin.