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# impertinent

adjective (impertinent, more impertinent, most impertinent)

«impertinent» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Rude and not showing proper respect, especially to an older person or someone in charge; cheeky. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#m1)
2. (formal, old) Not relevant to what is being talked about. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#m2)

### In the lessons

Grown-ups in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland often call Alice impertinent, and she calls the Hatter's remarks impertinent too: «"You shouldn't make personal remarks," Alice said; "it's very rude."» In old school stories teachers punish impertinent pupils. Today we would say «cheeky» or «rude». Phrases: «an impertinent question», «don't be impertinent».

### Examples

- «Don't be impertinent!» said the teacher. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x1)
- It was impertinent to ask the old lady how old she was. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x2)
- The Queen thought Alice was impertinent. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x3)
- The impertinent parrot copied everything the captain said. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x4)
- Asking how much money someone earns can be an impertinent question. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x5)
- The boy gave an impertinent reply and was sent out. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x6)
- Behavior that is regarded as agreeable in one is very rude and impertinent in another. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/#x7)

### Note

Not the opposite of «pertinent» in everyday use: it mostly means «rude», not «irrelevant». Noun: impertinence. Close words: cheeky, rude, insolent.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «impertinent» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/impertinent/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«impertinent» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/impertinent.html) on Mova free.