Insolent

3 definitions found

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

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

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

  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