Brazen Meaning
/ˈbɹeɪ̯zən/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjMade of brass.
adjBrass-like in appearance or character; bright, ruddy, hard.
Sentence Examples
His brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
Mary claims that Google Translate translates better than I do. That is a brazen lie.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ lie was so obvious that no one believed him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The man made a ____ attempt to steal the rare painting in broad daylight.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And Moses made a brass image of the fiery serpents, and put it up on a pole, where all the people could see it; and when any one was bitten, he could look upon the brazen serpent, and was cured."
— 1836, [Harvey Newcomb], The Brazen Serpent: Being a Simple Illustration of Faith Drawn from Scripture History. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: American Sunday-School Union, […], →OCLC, pages 40–41:
"The women, stout, strong, brazen-faced creatures, in most cases looked able to thrash any of the partners with whom they consorted."
— 1859 May 2, X. X. X. [pseudonym], “Looking at Lodgings”, in The Ragged School Union Magazine, volume IX, London: Ragged School Union, […]; Partridge & Co., […], →OCLC, page 91:
"The vegetation was similar to that which covers the lawns of the red Martians of the great waterways, but the trees and birds were unlike anything that I had ever seen upon Mars, and then through the further trees I could see that most un-Martian of all sights—an open sea, its blue waters shimmering beneath the brazen sun."
— 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “The Plant Men”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 3:
"Through the brazen hours that followed high noon, we crept onwards through a tunnel of glittering verdure."
— 1952, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth:
"Often a traveller, when the air is quiet, / Will make the night reverberate with this riot / Of brazen sounds, whose singing cadence swells / The harmony of bleating and lambs' bells."
— 2001, R[alph] N[ixon] Currey, “The Horn”, in Collected Poems, Oxford: James Currey; Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, →ISBN, page 246:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ lie was so obvious that no one believed him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The man made a ____ attempt to steal the rare painting in broad daylight.