• home
  • vocab
  • tutoring
  • blog
  • help

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMPUDENCE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.



pronounce IMPUDENCE:

IM pyoo dents
Your browser does not support the audio element.


connect this word to others:

Let's add the word impudence to our collection of synonyms for rudeness. Specifically the kind that's bold and shameless: we've got sass, brass, nerve, gall, insolence, ef____ery, chutz___, __pert__ence, and au___ity.

Of those, have you got a favorite?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

Our words "impudence" and "impudent" have Latin bits that literally mean "without shame." They date back to the 1300s in English, and the meaning has stayed pretty much the same.

We call it impudence when people act in a rude or disrespectful way without even being embarrassed about it (like we think they should).

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the uncountable kind: "They just shove cameras into people's faces? I cannot believe their impudence." "They had the impudence to shove cameras in strangers' faces without asking."

Other forms: 

The adjective is "impudent," and the adverb, "impudently."

how to use it:

When you want to sound formal, old-fashioned, and rather disgusted, instead of picking a more common word like "rudeness" or "shamelessness," pick the semi-common word "impudence."

We use it to label people's behavior and attitudes, especially in situations where they ought to be polite or respectful. Examples of impudence include cursing, bragging, lying, stealing, interrupting, contradicting, name-calling, and back-talking.

We talk about people saying or doing things with impudence. We also say that someone "had the impudence to" do something rude and shameless. And we talk about the impudence in someone's voice, tone, posture, or facial expression.

examples:

"A Big Lie is so colossal that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. There are many examples: Claims that Earth is not warming, or that evolution is not the best thesis we have for how humans developed." 
  — Barry Ritholtz, Washington Post, 5 November 2011

"[Mohawk is a large manufacturer of paper products.] Mohawk's communication strategy is... illustrated with hipsters throwing clay in their basements, forging wrought iron and side-hustling in saxophone design. It's impossible to tell if this is brilliant marketing or sheer impudence, or both." 
   — David J Unger, The Guardian, 29 December 2017

has this page helped you understand "impudence"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "impudence" without saying "cheek" or "arrogance."

try it out:

In the Verge, James Vincent reports hating a new remix of a beloved song. The remix's creators, he says, had "the impudence to spit in the face of God." He explains: "It’s... the only song I want played at my funeral — and Angry Birds is trying to ruin it."

He's probably at least half-kidding, but wow, that's some intense anger! In his view, the creators had the impudence to mess with perfection, butchering a song that was flawless.

See if you can think of some cover, sequel, episode, remix, remake, or reinterpretation of a song, story, or movie that you disliked. Try describing its creators by starting with, "They had the impudence to..." And, are you mostly kidding, or are you pretty serious about this?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Idiom Savant."

Flex your facility with familiar phrases by quickly pairing them off with words closely associated in meaning.

For example, you might pair the idiom "a cat has nine lives" with the word "resilient;" "water under the bridge" with "inconsequential;" and "when it rains, it pours" with "proliferate."

Try these today:

Pair these idioms...

   1. day in and day out
   2. hook, line, and sinker
   3. off the top of my head
   4. once and for all
   5. once upon a time

With these words...

   A. Brigadoon
   B. eradicate
   C. extemporaneous
   D. gullible
   E. quotidian

To see the answers, scroll all the way down. 

review this word:

1. The precise opposite of IMPUDENCE is PUDENCY, a word we don't use today. But a pretty close opposite of IMPUDENCE could be

A. PAUSE or ABEYANCE.
B. GLEE or JOUISSANCE.
C. HUMILITY or OBEISANCE.

2. Jane Austen's Emma defines "impudence" directly in this bit of dialogue: "'I say nothing of which I am _____,' replied he, with lively impudence."

A. ashamed
B. certain
C. ignorant




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. A

From the game:

   1. day in and day out: quotidian
   2. hook, line, and sinker: gullible
   3. off the top of my head: extemporaneous
   4. once and for all: eradicate
   5. once upon a time: Brigadoon

Are your answers different? No worries, as long as you can explain the connections you see.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.



© Copyright 2026 | All rights reserved.