different between impertinent vs insolent

English

Etymology

From Old French impertinent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m.?p??.t?.n?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m.?p?.t?.n?nt/

Adjective

impertinent (comparative more impertinent, superlative most impertinent)

1. insolent, ill-mannered.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Curious speculations, and the contemplation of things that are impertinent to us, and do not concern us, nor serve to promote our happiness, are but a more specious and ingenious sort of idleness

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     How impertinent that grief was which served no end!

2. irrelevant.

   Antonyms: pertinent, relevant

Usage notes

• Although definition 2 was the original meaning (derived from the French), the meaning gradually changed to definition 1. More recently, general usage has come to once again incorporate definition 2, though older speakers may consider definition 2 incorrect. The construction "not pertinent" is one possible alternative.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheeky

Translations

Noun

impertinent (plural impertinents)

1. An impertinent individual.
   • 1809-1812, Maria Edgeworth, "Manoeuvring", in Tales of Fashionable Life

     comfortably recessed from curious impertinents

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative impertinentst)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Inflection

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.p??.ti.n??/

Adjective

impertinent (feminine singular impertinente, masculine plural impertinents, feminine plural impertinentes)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Further reading

• “impertinent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative am impertinentesten)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Declension

Related terms

• Impertinenz

Further reading

• “impertinent” in Duden online

Romanian

Etymology

From French impertinent, from Latin impertinens.

Adjective

impertinent m or n (feminine singular impertinent?, masculine plural impertinen?i, feminine and neuter plural impertinente)

1. impertinent

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ?nsol?ns (“unaccustomed, unwanted, unusual, immoderate, excessive, arrogant, insolent”), from in- (privative prefix) + sol?ns, present participle of solere (“to be accustomed, to be wont”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??ns?.l?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??ns?.l?nt/

Adjective

insolent (comparative more insolent, superlative most insolent)

1. Insulting in manner or words.

   Synonyms: arrogant, bold, cocky, impudent

2. Rude.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, […] the chlorotic squatters on huge yachts, the speed-mad fugitives from the furies of ennui, the neurotic victims of mental cirrhosus, […]!”

   Synonyms: disrespectful, impertinent, insubordinate, offensive

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheeky
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Derived terms

• insolently

Related terms

Translations

Noun

insolent (plural insolents)

1. A person who is insolent.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 78:

     What a way do you put yourself in miss! said the insolent.

   • 2010, Louisa Shea, The Cynic Enlightenment: Diogenes in the Salon (page 7)

     Diogenes Laertius reports that Diogenes was apt to take the identification with the dog at face value, as when he lifted his leg and relieved himself on a group of young insolents who teased him with a dog's bone […]

Further reading

• insolent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• insolent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• insolent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Neilston

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin insolens, attested from 1653.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /in.so?lent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /in.su?len/

Adjective

insolent (masculine and feminine plural insolents)

1. insolent

Derived terms

• insolentment

Related terms

• insolència

References

Further reading

• “insolent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “insolent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “insolent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Latin insolens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.s?.l??/
• Homophone: insolents

Adjective

insolent (feminine singular insolente, masculine plural insolents, feminine plural insolentes)

1. insolent

Derived terms

• insolemment

Related terms

• insolence

Further reading

• “insolent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin insolens.

Adjective

insolent m (feminine singular insolenta, masculine plural insolents, feminine plural insolentas)

1. insolent

Derived terms

• insolentament

Related terms

• insoléncia

Romanian

Etymology

From French insolent, from Latin insolens.

Adjective

insolent m or n (feminine singular insolent?, masculine plural insolen?i, feminine and neuter plural insolente)

1. insolent

Declension