Cheekier

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by a playful audacity that often flirts with disrespect
2. Reflecting an impudent boldness that is both amusing and challenging
3. Showing a lively and slightly rude confidence that can be amusing or challenging

Etymology: "Cheekier" is the comparative of "cheeky," so it is simply the adjective "cheeky" with the comparative ending "-ier" attached, meaning more impudent or more boldly saucy. The adjective itself is built from "cheek," the face's fleshy side, combined with the suffix "-y," which makes a noun into an adjective meaning "characterised by" something. A cheeky person is, in effect, one full of cheek. The sense of "cheek" as impudence grew out of the older idea of brazen facial expression. To stare someone in the face with bare cheeks, or to answer back with a boldness that seems to lean into a face-to-face confrontation, was once described in similar terms across languages. English's "barefaced" and "bald-faced" carry the same picture of an unashamed, uncovered face. Italian "sfacciato," from Latin "ex-" and "faciēs" (face), and French "effronté," from Latin "ex-" and "frons" (forehead), follow the same logic, as does Polish "czelny," which links to "czoło" (forehead).

Synonyms: impudent, impertinent, sassy

Antonyms: polite, respectful