Effrontery

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɪˈfɹʌntəɹi/

Definitions

1. Disrespectful boldness or impertinent behavior that shows a lack of proper respect or shame
2. Audacious and shameless behavior that deliberately violates social norms or proper decorum
3. Insolent boldness displayed through disregard for respect and appropriate conduct

Etymology: The idea behind "effrontery" is literally a face without a forehead-shield. The Latin "effrons" meant "barefaced," built from "ex-" ("from" or "out of") and "frons," meaning "forehead." To be barefaced was to be shameless, as though you had lost the part of your face that blushes. Latin fixed the image in the metaphor, and the forehead stood for the visible front of a person's dignity. The word reached English through French. Old French had "esfronté," meaning "shameless" or "insolent," which traces back to a Vulgar Latin form, "exfrontatus." French then produced "effronterie" in the late 1600s, and English borrowed it from there. The English noun kept the French spelling's stress on the final syllable of "effront-" while the modern pronunciation has shifted toward "ih-FRUN-tuh-ree." Looked at in English, the word seems to hide "front" in it, and that is a fair guess about its shape, though the real route runs through Latin "frons" rather than the English word "front," which came into use separately.

Synonyms: audacity, impudence, insolence, nerve, gall

Antonyms: modesty, humility, shyness, timidity, meekness