Question 1 · Quick check
brazen
CEFRC2
/ˈbɹeɪ̯zən/
adjective
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
adjective
Very bold and showing little shame.
- 02
adjective
Extra detailBrass-like in appearance or character; bright, ruddy, hard.
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.
At a glance
Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 5
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 5
Also pronounced
- [ˈbɹæ̝ɪzn̩]
- [ˈbɹeɪzn̩]
Deep Dive
adjective
Extra meaningsSounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
Made of brass.
Shameless or impudent; shocking or audacious; brash.
More examples
In contextShe was brazen enough to deny stealing the handbag even though she was caught on camera doing so.
And now the Trumpets terribly from far, / With rattling Clangor, rouze the sleepy War. / The Souldiers Shouts succeed the Brazen Sounds, / And Heav'n, from Pole to Pole, the Noise rebounds.
Brazen or rather copper swords seem to have been next introduced; these in process of time, workmen learned to harden by the addition of some other metal or mineral, which rendered them almost equal in temper to iron.
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
adjective
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.