impertinence

Borrowed from Middle French impertinence, from impertinent (“impertinent”); by surface analysis, im- +‎ pertinent.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɜː.tɪ.nəns/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɝ.tɪ.nəns/, (rare) /ɪmˈpɝt.nəns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

impertinence (countable and uncountable, plural impertinences)

1. (uncountable) Lack of pertinence; irrelevance.
2. (countable) An instance of this; a moment of being impertinent.
   • 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter VI, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth‎^[1]:

     "Enough, sir! " he thundered with barely restrained fury. "Enough, I say! Once and for all I must endeavour to rid myself of you and your impertinence.

3. (uncountable) The fact or character of being out of place; inappropriateness.
4. (countable, uncountable) Insolence; impudence.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 198–199:

     "Because," interrupted the actress, "I see things exactly as they are. I calculate my effects, but they do not deceive myself; you, on the contrary, live in a world of illusions, where every thing is called by such an exceedingly fine name, that it seems a downright impertinence to ascertain what it really is."

   • 1984 February 4, Michael Bronski, “Cats: Straight and Boring”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 17:

     The musical has always had a lightness of touch, an impertinence that resembles gay humor.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pɛʁ.ti.nɑ̃s/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

impertinence f (plural impertinences)

1. impertinence

• “impertinence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.