Link Centre Dictionary

brazen

bra·zen

UK/ˈbɹeɪ̯zən/ US/ˈbɹeɪzn̩/ uncommon archaic
adjective (2) verb (1)

adjective

1.

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
  • “bald-faced lies”
  • “brazen arrogance”
  • “the modern world with its quick material successes and insolent belief in the boundless possibilities of progress” Bertrand Russell
Synonyms
Similar
2.

made of or resembling brass (as in color or hardness)

verb

1.

face with defiance or impudence

  • “brazen it out”

Origin

From Middle English brasen, from Old English bræsen (“brazen, of brass”); equivalent to brass + -en (compare golden, wooden, etc.). The word originally meant “of brass”; the figurative verb sense (as in brazen it out (“face impudently”)) dates from the 1550s (perhaps evoking the sense “face like brass, unmoving and not showing shame”), and the adjective sense “impudent” from the 1570s. Compare brass neck, bold as brass.

Phrases

  • brazen age
  • brazen bull
  • brazen it out
  • brazen out
  • brazen sea

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.