different between impertinent vs cheeky

English

Etymology

From Old French impertinent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m.?p??.t?.n?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m.?p?.t?.n?nt/

Adjective

impertinent (comparative more impertinent, superlative most impertinent)

1. insolent, ill-mannered.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Curious speculations, and the contemplation of things that are impertinent to us, and do not concern us, nor serve to promote our happiness, are but a more specious and ingenious sort of idleness

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     How impertinent that grief was which served no end!

2. irrelevant.

   Antonyms: pertinent, relevant

Usage notes

• Although definition 2 was the original meaning (derived from the French), the meaning gradually changed to definition 1. More recently, general usage has come to once again incorporate definition 2, though older speakers may consider definition 2 incorrect. The construction "not pertinent" is one possible alternative.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheeky

Translations

Noun

impertinent (plural impertinents)

1. An impertinent individual.
   • 1809-1812, Maria Edgeworth, "Manoeuvring", in Tales of Fashionable Life

     comfortably recessed from curious impertinents

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative impertinentst)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Inflection

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.p??.ti.n??/

Adjective

impertinent (feminine singular impertinente, masculine plural impertinents, feminine plural impertinentes)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Further reading

• “impertinent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

impertinent (comparative impertinenter, superlative am impertinentesten)

1. insolent, ill-mannered

Declension

Related terms

• Impertinenz

Further reading

• “impertinent” in Duden online

Romanian

Etymology

From French impertinent, from Latin impertinens.

Adjective

impertinent m or n (feminine singular impertinent?, masculine plural impertinen?i, feminine and neuter plural impertinente)

1. impertinent

Declension

English

Etymology

From cheek +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?i?ki/
• Rhymes: -i?ki

Adjective

cheeky (comparative cheekier, superlative cheekiest)

1. (informal) Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.
2. (informal) (of swimwear, underwear, etc.) tending to reveal the cheeks of the buttocks.
3. (Australian Aboriginal) Poisonous (of animals such as snakes), dangerous, cunning, violent, potent.
   • 1994, Victoria Katherine Burbank, Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia, Univ of California Press ?ISBN, page 57

     A death adder is cheeky, a tree snake quiet. Wasps are only cheeky if you hold them in your hand.

   • 1995, Richard Shine, Australian Snakes: A Natural History, Cornell University Press ?ISBN, page 176

     There is no doubt that many have been killed by large elapids, and that Aborigines treat such 'cheeky' snakes (and colubrids of similar appearance) with great respect.

4. (informal, Britain) Indulged in.
   • 2009, Amy Huberman, Hello, Heartbreak, Penguin UK ?ISBN

     Although sometimes I'd award myself a cheeky McDonald's hangover treat if I did well.

   • 2010, Richard Herring, How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort of., Random House ?ISBN, page 285

     It was a massive struggle to resist the lure of a cheeky beer, but I held firm.

   • 2011, John Donoghue, Police, Crime & 999, Troubador Publishing Ltd ?ISBN, page 7

     It transpired that Mrs Egg had been cooking dinner when she discovered Mr Singlet making himself a sandwich. I don't know about you but it does seem a little bit naught after she's gone to all that effort. Naughty yes but hardly a crime and certainly not enough to warrant a 999 call. Yet that's what she had done. That's why we had left our own dinner, charged through rush hour traffic, disrupted commuters on their way home – all for a cheeky sandwich.

   • 2011, James Goss, Torchwood: First Born, Random House ?ISBN, page 20

     The great thing was it gave him a little bit of freedom and me the chance to sneak a cheeky nap.

Synonyms

• saucy
• insolent
• See Thesaurus:cheeky

Derived terms

• cheeky chappie
• cheeky chops
• cheeky monkey

Translations