Adjacent Words

Presumptuous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRESUMP'TUOUS, a.
1. Bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash; applied to persons; as a presumptuous commander.
There is a class of presumptuous men whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise.
2. Founded on presumption; proceeding from excess of confidence; applied to things; as presumptuous hope.
3. Arrogant; insolent; as a presumptuous priest.
Presumptuous pride.
4. Unduly confident; irreverent with respect to sacred things.
5. Willful; done with bold design, rash confidence or in violation of known duty; as a presumptuous sin.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: excessively forward; "an assumptive person"; "on a subject like this it would be too assuming for me to decide"; "the duchess would not put up with presumptuous servants" [syn: assumptive, assuming, presumptuous]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French presumptious, from Late Latin praesumptuosus, irregular from praesumptio Date: 14th century overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy) ; taking liberties • presumptuously adverb • presumptuousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. unduly or overbearingly confident and presuming. Derivatives: presumptuously adv. presumptuousness n. Etymology: ME f. OF presumptueux f. LL praesumptuosus, -tiosus (as PRESUME)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Presumptuous Pre*sump"tu*ous (?; 135), a. [L. praesumptuosus: cf. F. pr['e]somptueux, OF. also presumptuous. See Presumption.] 1. Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct. A class of presumptuous men, whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise. --Buckminster. 2. Founded on presumption; as, a presumptuous idea. ``False, presumptuous hope.'' --Milton. 3. Done with hold design, rash confidence, or in violation of known duty; willful. ``Keep back the servant also from presumptuous sins.'' --Ps. xix. 13. Syn: Overconfident; foolhardy; rash; presuming; forward; arrogant; insolent.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone or their behaviour as presumptuous, you disapprove of them because they are doing something that they have no right or authority to do. It would be presumptuous to judge what the outcome will be. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Arrogant, bold, forward, presuming, insolent, audacious. 2. Rash, over-confident, foolhardy. 3. Irreverent.

Moby Thesaurus

acceptable, adventurous, arrogant, assuming, audacious, bold, brash, brazen, bumptious, busy, busybody, cheeky, cold, complacent, confident, contumelious, cool, daredevil, daring, death-defying, disdainful, egotistical, familiar, fire-eating, foolhardy, forward, gay, harebrained, hubristic, immodest, impertinent, impudent, inexcusable, inquisitive, insolent, insulting, licentious, lofty, madbrain, madbrained, madcap, meddlesome, meddling, nosy, obtrusive, officious, outrageous, overconfident, overpresumptuous, overweening, pompous, presuming, pretentious, prideful, procacious, proud, prying, pushful, pushing, pushy, saucy, self-appointed, self-asserting, self-assertive, self-assured, self-conceited, self-elect, self-satisfied, smug, snoopy, supercilious, temerarious, uppish, uppity, wild, wild-ass, would-be