1
as in wise
displaying or marked by rude boldness
the impertinent child had a smart answer for everything
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rude
showing a lack of manners or consideration for others
impertinent salesmen who telephone people during the dinner hour
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in irrelevant
not having anything to do with the matter at hand
your résumé needlessly lists skills that are impertinent to the job for which you are applying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impertinent
For three long weeks that began to seem rude or impertinent, as if the Prize hadn’t been announced, as if a king and queen weren’t waiting for his answer, Dylan said nothing about the award.
—
Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Questions about the overheating of the American economy were brushed aside as impertinent.
—Arancha González Laya, Foreign Affairs, 12 May 2025
But people all around us ask impertinent questions all the time.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2025
There this brilliant but bewildered scientist gets cornered by a plutocrat with impertinent questions.
—Alan Scherstuhl, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impertinent
Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Questions about the overheating of the American economy were brushed aside as impertinent.
—Arancha González Laya, Foreign Affairs, 12 May 2025
But people all around us ask impertinent questions all the time.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2025
There this brilliant but bewildered scientist gets cornered by a plutocrat with impertinent questions.
—Alan Scherstuhl, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impertinent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impertinent
Adjective
-
This show has been so amazing for us, not just friendship-wise and getting so close to each other, but also being a part of something that people love.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The sad thing is the Dolphins, in a wise effort to build the trenches during the past two years, have used lots of draft capital (left tackle Patrick Paul was a 2024 second-round pick and left guard Jonah Savaiinaea was a 2025 second-round pick) in that area.—
Chris Perkins,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Margot Robbie once had the world's rudest coworker.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The other systems are even ruder.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Szoboszlai’s opener will sit alongside Daniel Sturridge’s effort from the 2016 Europa League final against Sevilla in Basel in the vault of stunning Liverpool goals that were ultimately deemed irrelevant by the result.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
In this landscape, organizations such as the CDC, which once stood as unimpeachable examples of government competence, have become victims of their own success, appearing to skeptics to be inert or irrelevant.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Gemma reluctantly agrees to rebuild her impudent robot in a new body, and the sequel ends with an explosive showdown between Amelia and M3GAN, who nearly dies in a noble attempt to save Gemma and her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw).—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 June 2025
-
Fortunately, Snow White’s newfound enlightenment does not deny her the possibility of romance, although princes are now strictly off-limits; her love interest here is a fetchingly impudent bandit, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is leading a scrappy rebellion against the Evil Queen.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Malinin’s confidence would be insolent if his acrobatics weren’t so astonishing.—
Sally Jenkins,
The Atlantic,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The fox would once have crushed this insolent creature with a swipe of her paw.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
19 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
To compare this with Heraskevych’s plight strikes me as disrespectful to Naumov.—
Steve Buckley,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
This is wrong, disrespectful and a violation of our open government laws.—
Donna Frye,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
His bold team selection against Palace — giving 17-year-old England youth international Harry Howell his full Premier League debut on the right flank and 18-year-old Greek centre-forward Charalampos Kostoulas his second league start — did not pay off.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
However, Musk is known for delivering bold statements and shifting timelines.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Or perhaps Raimi is just kicking it back to his more brazen early years as a director.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
31 Jan. 2026
-
In a particularly brazen flouting of traffic laws, one Waymo allegedly drove near the students who were disembarking from the bus.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impertinent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impertinent. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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