different between brazen vs forthright

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 1

From Middle English forþright, forþri?t, forþriht, from Old English forþriht (“direct, plain”); equivalent to forth +? right.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?????a?t/

Adjective

forthright (comparative more forthright, superlative most forthright)

1. Straightforward; not evasive; candid and direct.

2. Frank, outspoken.
3. Markedly simple.
4. Fixed; settled; decided.
5. (archaic) Proceeding straight forth.

Derived terms

• forthrightly
• forthrightness
• unforthright

Translations

Noun

forthright (plural forthrights)

1. (archaic) A straight path.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III scene iii^[1]:

     Gonzalo: […] Here's a maze trod indeed / Through forth-rights and meanders !

Etymology 2

From Middle English forthright, forþri?t, forthricte, from Old English forþrihte (“straightway, at once, plainly”), from forþriht +? -e (“adverbial suffix”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f?????a?t/

Adverb

forthright (comparative more forthright, superlative most forthright)

1. Expressly, frankly, unhesitatingly.
2. At once, forthwith.
3. Swiftly.
4. (archaic) Straight forward, in a straight direction.

References

• “forthright”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “forthright”, in Online Etymology Dictionary