What does "brazen" mean?
To turn a brass color.
Brazen
/ˈbɹeɪzən/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To turn a brass color.
- Grammar: brazen is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: audacious, adust, affront, arrant.
- Useful contrasts: bashful, demurest, humble.
- Usage evidence: His brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
How to use "brazen"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "brazen" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "brazen" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "brazen" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "brazen" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "brazen" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "audacious" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "brazen", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To turn a brass color. intransitive
"[...] the meadows roughen, grow gutteral / with goldenrod, milkweed's late-summer lilac, / cat-tails, the wild lily brazening, / dooryards overflowing in late, rough-headed bloom: [...]"
- 2 face with defiance or impudence wordnet
- 3 Generally followed by out or through: to carry through in a brazen manner; to act boldly despite embarrassment, risk, etc. transitive
"And though the word doth eat up all they can ſay, as Moſes rod did: yet they harden their hearts with Pharaoh, they brazen their brows with him in the text, that ſaid I will not: Nay ſaid the Iſraelites, but we will have a King. [Commentary on Matthew 21:29.]"
Adjective
- 1 Made of brass. archaic
"Brazen or rather copper swords seem to have been next introduced; these in process of time, workmen learned to harden by the addition of some other metal or mineral, which rendered them almost equal in temper to iron."
- 2 Brass-like in appearance or character; bright, ruddy, hard. figuratively
"The women, stout, strong, brazen-faced creatures, in most cases looked able to thrash any of the partners with whom they consorted."
- 3 Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.
"And now the Trumpets terribly from far, / With rattling Clangor, rouze the sleepy War. / The Souldiers Shouts succeed the Brazen Sounds, / And Heav'n, from Pole to Pole, the Noise rebounds."
- 4 Extremely strong; impenetrable; resolute. archaic
"The giant [Goliath] was thus conquered by the youth [David]; the man-at-arms by the unarmed; the stone of the shepherd pierced the brazen defences of the warrior."
- 5 Shameless or impudent; shocking or audacious; brash.
"She was brazen enough to deny stealing the handbag even though she was caught on camera doing so."
Adjective
- 1 unrestrained by convention or propriety wordnet
- 2 made of or resembling brass (as in color or hardness) wordnet
Example
"His brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "brazen"?
Common synonyms include: audacious, adust, affront, arrant, arrogant, auburn.
How do you use "brazen" in a sentence?
His brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
How do you pronounce "brazen"?
Pronounced /ˈbɹeɪzən/.
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.