impertinent
English
Etymology
From Old French impertinent.
Adjective
impertinent (comparative more impertinent, superlative most impertinent)
- insolent, ill-mannered
- Tillotson
- things that are impertinent to us
- Jeremy Taylor
- How impertinent that grief was which served no end!
- Tillotson
- irrelevant (opposite of pertinent)
Usage notes
- Although historically, definition 2 was the original meaning (derived from the French below), the meaning gradually changed to definition 1. More recently general usage has come to once again incorporate definition 2. Many older speakers will consider definition 2 incorrect. The construction "not pertinent" is one possible alternative.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:cheeky
Translations
insolent, ill-mannered
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irrelevant
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Noun
impertinent (plural impertinents)
- An impertinent individual.
- Maria Edgeworth
- comfortably recessed from curious impertinents
- Maria Edgeworth
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Inflection
Inflection of impertinent | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | impertinent | |||
inflected | impertinente | |||
comparative | impertinenter | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | impertinent | impertinenter | het impertinentst het impertinentste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | impertinente | impertinentere | impertinentste |
n. sing. | impertinent | impertinenter | impertinentste | |
plural | impertinente | impertinentere | impertinentste | |
definite | impertinente | impertinentere | impertinentste | |
partitive | impertinents | impertinenters | — |
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.pɛʁ.ti.nɑ̃/
Audio (Paris) (file) Audio (file)
Adjective
impertinent (feminine singular impertinente, masculine plural impertinents, feminine plural impertinentes)
Further reading
- “impertinent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
German
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adjective
impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative am impertinentesten)
Declension
Positive forms of impertinent
Comparative forms of impertinent
Superlative forms of impertinent
Related terms
Further reading
- impertinent in Duden online
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