cheeky
English
WOTD – 8 December 2015
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtʃiːki/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -iːki
Adjective
cheeky (comparative cheekier, superlative cheekiest)
- (informal) Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.
- 1899, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 4, in Stalky & Co.:
- "Shut up," said Harrison. "You chaps always behave as if you were jawin' us when we come to jaw you."
- "You're a lot too cheeky," said Craye.
- 1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in The Swoop! or How Clarence Saved England:
- The Young Turks, as might have been expected, wrote in their customary flippant, cheeky style.
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- (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.
- 2009, Amy Huberman, Hello, Heartbreak, Penguin UK →ISBN
- (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.
- 1994, Victoria Katherine Burbank, Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia, Univ of California Press →ISBN, page 57
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
impudent; impertinent
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