audacious means showing willingness to take bold risks; recklessly daring. It carries an Arena rating of 1752, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, audacious ranks #610 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,360 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,929 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #5,270 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
audacious is pronounced /ɔːˈdeɪ.ʃəs/.
Why “audacious” is a great word
Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks, often with a disregard for conventional restraints, which can be interpreted as either admirably daring or offensively impudent. From Latin audacia ('boldness'), from audax ('bold'), from audeō ('to be bold, to dare'). Unlike 'intrepid,' which suggests a resolute bravery without insolence, or 'presumptuous,' which narrows on offensive overreach, 'audacious' occupies the volatile middle—admiration and offense held in uneasy suspension. It is the architect who proposes a glass pyramid in the courtyard of a Renaissance palace, the prisoner who negotiates his own release by teaching his captors chess, or the child who asks the emperor why he is naked. It is the body pressing forward not because it ignores danger, but because it has already tasted it, and found it less substantial than the heat of its own daring.
Etymology
From Latin audacia (“boldness”) + -ious, from audax (“bold”), from audeō (“to be bold, to dare”).
adj
- Showing willingness to take bold risks; recklessly daring.e.g.“It was an audacious thing for her to attempt, but boldness had often served her turn before.” — 1871, Anthony Trollope, The Eustace Diamonds:
- Impudent, insolent.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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