English Explanatory Dictionary

brazen

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Made of brass.
  2. Brass-like in appearance or character; bright, ruddy, hard.
  3. Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
  4. Extremely strong; impenetrable; resolute.
  5. Shameless or impudent; shocking or audacious; brash.
verb
  1. To turn a brass color.
  2. Generally followed by out or through: to carry through in a brazen manner; to act boldly despite embarrassment, risk, etc.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɹeɪ̯zən/ [ˈbɹeɪzn̩] en-uk-brazen.opus en-us-brazen.ogg /ˈbɹæ̝ɪ̯zən/ [ˈbɹæ̝ɪzn̩] en-au-brazen.ogg

Word forms

brazen more brazen brazener most brazen brazenest brasen brazens brazening brazened

Etymology

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.

Related words

braze

Derived words

brazen age brazen bull brazenface brazen-face brazen-faced brazenfaced brazenly brazenness brazenry brazen sea brazen it out brazen out outbrazen
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