Impertinent: meaning, example and synonyms
Impertinentadj. Rude; not showing proper respect.
Example
The young clerk's impertinent questions about the senator's finances startled the audience, though several later admitted they had wondered the same thing.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Synonyms
- rude, insolent, impudent, disrespectful
- Antonyms
- polite, respectful, courteous, deferential
- Memory tip
- Not pertinent, not fitting: remarks that overstep come off as rude.
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Check yourself: Impertinent in context
The student's ______ remark that the guest speaker 'clearly hadn't read the book' drew gasps from the audience.
Answer: impertinent. Publicly insulting a guest is rude and disrespectful. Nebulous, heterogeneous and outsize don't describe rudeness.
In the 18th-century household the letter describes, a servant who questioned the master's orders would have been considered ______ and might have been dismissed.
Answer: impertinent. Questioning a master's orders was viewed as disrespectful. Unassuming means modest; imperative and inextricable don't describe behavior toward a superior.