brazen

Meaning

Adj

1. (archaic) Made of brass.
2. (figuratively) Brass-like in appearance or character; bright, ruddy, hard.
3. Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
4. (archaic) Extremely strong; impenetrable; resolute.
5. Shameless or impudent; shocking or audacious; brash.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To turn a brass color.
2. (transitive) Generally followed by out or through: to carry through in a brazen manner; to act boldly despite embarrassment, risk, etc.

Synonyms

shameless

impudent

audacious

barefaced

insolent

bold

brazen-faced

unashamed

made of brass

impertinent

brassy

bald-faced

daring

brass

bodacious

saucy

bold-faced

brash

bronzy

careless

cheeky

fearless

indecent

nosy

outrageous

presumptuous

sassy

arrogant

thick-skinned

unclean

copper

interfering

irreverent

nosiness

unflinching

unhumble

perky

pert

unscrupulous

reckless

rude

uppish

bluff

conceit

shocking

temerity

baldfaced

unabashed

defiant

bronze

Translations

sfacciato

unverschämt

impudent

éhonté

descarado

schamlos

ορειχάλκινος

hardi

unverfroren

impudente

frech

effronté

μπρούντζινος

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɹeɪzən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: brasen

Inherited from Old English: bræsen

In summary

From Middle English brasen, from Old English bræsen (“brazen, of brass”); equivalent to brass + -en (compare golden, wooden, etc.).
The word originally meant “of brass”; the figurative verb sense (as in brazen it out (“face impudently”)) dates from the 1550s (perhaps evoking the sense “face like brass, unmoving and not showing shame”), and the adjective sense “impudent” from the 1570s. Compare brass neck, bold as brass.