different between brazen vs cheeky

English

Alternative forms

• brasen

Etymology

From Middle English brasen, from Old English bræsen (“brazen, of brass”); equivalent to brass +? -en (compare golden).

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 bold as brass.

Pronunciation

• enPR: br?z?n, IPA^(key): /?b?e?z?n/
• Rhymes: -e?z?n
• Hyphenation: braz?en

Adjective

brazen (comparative more brazen, superlative most brazen)

1. (archaic) Pertaining to, made of, or resembling brass (in color or strength).
   • 1786, Francis Grose, Military Antiquities Respecting a History of the English Army, from the Conquest to the Present Time, London: Printed for S. Hooper […], OCLC 745209064; republished as Military Antiquities Respecting a History of the English Army, from the Conquest to the Present Time, volume II, new [2nd] edition with material additions and improvements, London: Printed for T[homas] Egerton, […]; & G. Kearsley, […], 1801, OCLC 435979550, page 262:

     Brazen or rather copper swords seem to have been next introduced; these in process of time, workmen learned to harden by the addition of some other metal or mineral, which rendered them almost equal in temper to iron.
2. Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
   • 1697, Virgil; John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. Translated into English Verse; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 839376905; republished as The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. Translated into English Verse by Mr. Dryden. In Three Volumes, volume III, 5th edition, London: Printed by Jacob Tonson […], 1721, OCLC 181805247, book IX, page 822, lines 667–670:

     And now the Trumpets terribly from far, / With rattling Clangor, rouze the sleepy War. / The Souldiers Shouts succeed the Brazen Sounds, / And Heav'n, from Pole to Pole, the Noise rebounds.
3. (archaic) Extremely strong; impenetrable; resolute.
4. Shamelessly shocking and offensive; audacious; impudent; barefaced; immodest, unblushing. [from 1570s.]

Derived terms

• brazen age
• brazen bull
• brazenface
• brazen-faced
• brazen sea
• brazenly
• brazenness

Translations

See also

• effrontery

Verb

brazen (third-person singular simple present brazens, present participle brazening, simple past and past participle brazened)

1. (intransitive) To turn a brass color.
2. (transitive) Generally followed by out or through: to carry through in a brazen manner; to act boldly despite embarrassment, risk, etc. [from 1550s.]

Derived terms

• brazen it out

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From cheek +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?i?ki/
• Rhymes: -i?ki

Adjective

cheeky (comparative cheekier, superlative cheekiest)

1. (informal) Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.
2. (informal) (of swimwear, underwear, etc.) tending to reveal the cheeks of the buttocks.
3. (Australian Aboriginal) Poisonous (of animals such as snakes), dangerous, cunning, violent, potent.
   • 1994, Victoria Katherine Burbank, Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia, Univ of California Press ?ISBN, page 57

     A death adder is cheeky, a tree snake quiet. Wasps are only cheeky if you hold them in your hand.

   • 1995, Richard Shine, Australian Snakes: A Natural History, Cornell University Press ?ISBN, page 176

     There is no doubt that many have been killed by large elapids, and that Aborigines treat such 'cheeky' snakes (and colubrids of similar appearance) with great respect.

4. (informal, Britain) Indulged in.
   • 2009, Amy Huberman, Hello, Heartbreak, Penguin UK ?ISBN

     Although sometimes I'd award myself a cheeky McDonald's hangover treat if I did well.

   • 2010, Richard Herring, How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort of., Random House ?ISBN, page 285

     It was a massive struggle to resist the lure of a cheeky beer, but I held firm.

   • 2011, John Donoghue, Police, Crime & 999, Troubador Publishing Ltd ?ISBN, page 7

     It transpired that Mrs Egg had been cooking dinner when she discovered Mr Singlet making himself a sandwich. I don't know about you but it does seem a little bit naught after she's gone to all that effort. Naughty yes but hardly a crime and certainly not enough to warrant a 999 call. Yet that's what she had done. That's why we had left our own dinner, charged through rush hour traffic, disrupted commuters on their way home – all for a cheeky sandwich.

   • 2011, James Goss, Torchwood: First Born, Random House ?ISBN, page 20

     The great thing was it gave him a little bit of freedom and me the chance to sneak a cheeky nap.

Synonyms

• saucy
• insolent
• See Thesaurus:cheeky

Derived terms

• cheeky chappie
• cheeky chops
• cheeky monkey

Translations