audacious
Americanadjective
-
extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless.
an audacious explorer.
- Synonyms:
- venturesome, dauntless, intrepid, courageous
- Antonyms:
- cowardly
-
extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive.
an audacious vision of the city's bright future.
-
recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen.
- Synonyms:
- forward, impertinent, shameless, unabashed
-
lively; unrestrained; uninhibited.
an audacious interpretation of her role.
adjective
-
recklessly bold or daring; fearless
-
impudent or presumptuous
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of audacious
First recorded in 1540–50; audaci(ty) + -ous
Explanation
This adjective is very bold — if you are audacious, you are daring and unconventional! The adjective audacious comes from the Latin word audacia and means "daring, boldness, courage," and often gets applied in situations where someone does something pretty unusual, like becoming an astronaut and going to the moon. It can also mean challenging conventions and doing things that most people don't do, such as when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to become a doctor. Blackwell then inspired Elizabeth Garrett Anderson to become the first female doctor in England. And the rest is history!
Vocabulary lists containing audacious
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is both audacious and completely appropriate, but it is also a moment for the audience, it is a mountain top, it is a beacon of hope.
From Salon • May 28, 2026
Verstappen initially trailed Hamilton's Ferrari but passed with an audacious move into the first corner on lap 13.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Musk will be well compensated for his visionary leadership and for hitting some audacious goals.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Her biting and formally audacious narratives examine class, politics and — a speciality — the interiority of women through enigmatic portraits of psychologically complex individuals.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
Cluny goggled in thunderstruck silence at the audacious Basil, who merely scowled in mock censure.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
