Impertinent

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impertinent \Im*per"ti*nent\, n.
     An impertinent person. [R.]
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Impertinent \Im*per"ti*nent\, a. [F., fr. L. impertinens,
     -entis; pref. im- not + pertinens. See {Pertinent}.]
     1. Not pertinent; not pertaining to the matter in hand;
        having no bearing on the subject; not to the point;
        irrelevant; inapplicable.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Things that are impertinent to us.    --Tillotson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              How impertinent that grief was which served no end!
                                                    --Jer. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Contrary to, or offending against, the rules of propriety
        or good breeding; guilty of, or prone to, rude,
        unbecoming, or uncivil words or actions; as, an impertient
        coxcomb; an impertient remark.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Trifing; inattentive; frivolous.
  
     Syn: Rude; officious; intrusive; saucy; unmannerly;
          meddlesome; disrespectful; impudent; insolent.
  
     Usage: {Impertinent}, {Officious}, {Rude}. A person is
            officious who obtrudes his offices or assistance where
            they are not needed; he is impertinent when he
            intermeddles in things with which he has no concern.
            The former shows a lack of tact, the latter a lack of
            breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer
            impudence. A person is rude when he violates the
            proprieties of social life either from ignorance or
            wantonness. "An impertinent man will ask questions for
            the mere gratification of curiosity; a rude man will
            burst into the room of another, or push against his
            person, inviolant of all decorum; one who is officious
            is quite as unfortunate as he is troublesome; when he
            strives to serve, he has the misfortune to annoy."
            --Crabb. See {Impudence}, and {Insolent}.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impertinent
       adj 1: characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality; "a
              certain irreverent gaiety and ease of manner" [syn: {irreverent},
               {pert}, {saucy}]
       2: not pertinent to the matter under consideration; "an issue
          extraneous to the debate"; "the price was immaterial";
          "mentioned several impertinent facts before finally coming
          to the point" [syn: {extraneous}, {immaterial}, {orthogonal}]
       3: improperly forward or bold; "don't be fresh with me";
          "impertinent of a child to lecture a grownup"; "an
          impudent boy given to insulting strangers" [syn: {fresh},
          {impudent}, {overbold}, {smart}, {saucy}, {sassy}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  87 Moby Thesaurus words for "impertinent":
     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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  IMPERTINENT, practice, pleading. What does not appertain, or belong to; id 
  est, qui ad rem non pertinet. 
       2. Evidence of facts which do not belong to the matter in question, is 
  impertinent and inadmissible. In general, what is immaterial is impertinent, 
  and what is material is, in general, not impertinent. 1 McC. & Y. 337. See 
  Gresl. Ev. Ch. 3, s. 1, p. 229. Impertinent matter, in a declaration or 
  other pleading is that which does not belong to the subject; in such case it 
  is considered as mere surplusage, (q.v.) and is rejected. Ham. N. P. 25. 
  Vide 2 Ves. 24; 5 Madd. R. 450; Newl. Pr. 38; 2 Ves. 631; 5 Ves. 656; 18 
  Eng. Com. Law R. 201; Eden on Inj. 71. 
       3. There is a difference between matter merely impertinent and that 
  which is scandalous; matter may be impertinent, without being scandalous; 
  but if it is scandalous, it must be impertinent. 
      4. In equity a bill cannot, according to the general practice, be 
  referred for impertinence after the defendant has answered or submitted to 
  answer, but it may be referred for scandal at any time, and even upon the 
  application of a stranger to the suit. Coop. Eq. Pl. 19; 2 Ves. 631; 6 Ves. 
  514; Story, Eq. Pl. Sec. 270. Vide Gresl. Eq. Ev. p. 2, c. 3, s, 1; 1 John. 
  Ch. R. 103; 1 Paige's R. 555; I Edw. R. 350; 11 Price, R. 111; 5 Paige's R. 
  522; 1 Russ. & My. 28; Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t.; Scandal.