Adjacent Words

Impertinent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPER'TINENT, a. [L. impertinens, supra.]
1. Not pertaining to the matter in hand; of no weight; having no bearing on the subject; as an impertinent remark.
2. Rude; intrusive; meddling with that which does not belong to the person; as an impertinent coxcomb.
3. Trifling; foolish; negligent of the present purpose.
IMPER'TINENT, n. An intruder; a meddler; one who interferes in what does not belong to him.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality; "a certain irreverent gaiety and ease of manner" [syn: impertinent, irreverent, pert, saucy]
2: not pertinent to the matter under consideration; "an issue extraneous to the debate"; "the price was immaterial"; "mentioned several impertinent facts before finally coming to the point" [syn: extraneous, immaterial, impertinent, orthogonal]
3: improperly forward or bold; "don't be fresh with me"; "impertinent of a child to lecture a grownup"; "an impudent boy given to insulting strangers"; "Don't get wise with me!" [syn: fresh, impertinent, impudent, overbold, smart, saucy, sassy, wise]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin impertinent-, impertinens, from Latin in- + pertinent-, pertinens, present participle of pertin?re to pertain Date: 14th century 1. not pertinent ; irrelevant 2. a. not restrained within due or proper bounds especially of propriety or good taste <impertinent curiosity> b. given to or characterized by insolent rudeness <an impertinent answer> • impertinently adverb Synonyms: impertinent, officious, meddlesome, intrusive, obtrusive mean given to thrusting oneself into the affairs of others. impertinent implies exceeding the bounds of propriety in showing interest or curiosity or in offering advice <resented their impertinent interference>. officious implies the offering of services or attentions that are unwelcome or annoying <officious friends made the job harder>. meddlesome stresses an annoying and usually prying interference in others' affairs <a meddlesome landlord>. intrusive implies a tactless or otherwise objectionable thrusting into others' affairs <tried to be helpful without being intrusive>. obtrusive stresses improper or offensive conspicuousness of interfering actions <expressed an obtrusive concern for his safety>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 rude or insolent; lacking proper respect. 2 out of place; absurd. 3 esp. Law irrelevant, intrusive. Derivatives: impertinence n. impertinently adv. Etymology: ME f. OF or LL impertinens (as IN-(1), PERTINENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impertinent Im*per"ti*nent, a. [F., fr. L. impertinens, -entis; pref. im- not + pertinens. See Pertinent.] 1. Not pertinent; not pertaining to the matter in hand; having no bearing on the subject; not to the point; irrelevant; inapplicable. Things that are impertinent to us. --Tillotson. How impertinent that grief was which served no end! --Jer. Taylor. 2. Contrary to, or offending against, the rules of propriety or good breeding; guilty of, or prone to, rude, unbecoming, or uncivil words or actions; as, an impertient coxcomb; an impertient remark. 3. Trifing; inattentive; frivolous. Syn: Rude; officious; intrusive; saucy; unmannerly; meddlesome; disrespectful; impudent; insolent. Usage: Impertinent, Officious, Rude. A person is officious who obtrudes his offices or assistance where they are not needed; he is impertinent when he intermeddles in things with which he has no concern. The former shows a want of tact, the latter a want of breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer impudence. A person is rude when he violates the proprieties of social life either from ignorance or wantonness. ``An impertinent man will ask questions for the mere grafication of curiosity; a rude man will burst into the room of another, or push against his person, inviolant of all decorum; one who is officious is quite as unfortunate as he is troublesome; when he strives to serve, he has the misfortune to annoy.'' --Crabb. See Impudence, and Insolent.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impertinent Im*per"ti*nent, n. An impertinent person. [R.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If someone talks or behaves in a rather impolite and disrespectful way, you can say that they are being impertinent. Would it be impertinent to ask where exactly you were?... = impudent, cheeky ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Irrelevant, inapposite, inapplicable, not to the point, not pertaining to the matter in hand, non-pertinent. 2. Intrusive, meddling, officious, insolent, rude, impudent, saucy, forward, pert, bold, malapert, unmannerly.

Moby Thesaurus

adrift, arrogant, audacious, beside the mark, beside the point, beside the question, biggety, bluff, bold, brash, brassy, brazen, bumptious, busy, busybody, challenging, cheeky, chutzpadik, cocky, contemptuous, crusty, daring, defiant, defying, derisive, discourteous, disdainful, disregardful, disrespectful, extraneous, extrinsic, facy, flip, flippant, foreign, forward, fresh, gally, gratuitous, greatly daring, immaterial, impolite, impudent, inadmissible, inapplicable, inapposite, inappropriate, incidental, inconsequent, inquisitive, insolent, interfering, intrusive, irrelative, irrelevant, malapert, meddlesome, meddling, nervy, nihil ad rem, nonessential, nosy, not at issue, obtrusive, off the subject, offensive, officious, out-of-the-way, parenthetical, pert, presumptuous, prying, pushing, pushy, regardless of consequences, rude, sassy, saucy, self-appointed, smart, smart-alecky, smart-ass, snoopy, uncalled-for, uncivil, unessential, wise-ass