Malapertness

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mal·a·pert

(măl′ə-pûrt′)

adj.

Impudently bold in speech or manner; saucy.

An impudent, saucy person.

[Middle English, from Old French : mal-, mal- + apert, clever, alteration (influenced by apert, clever, saucy; see pert) of Latin expertus; see expert.]

mal′a·pert′ly adv.

mal′a·pert′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Malapertness

of pedlars: 1486.

References in periodicals archive ?

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