Temerity
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Reckless boldness; foolish bravery. uncountable
"1569, Thomas Pearson, trans., "The Second Paradox," in The booke of Marcus Tullius Cicero entituled Paradoxa Stoicorum, T. Marshe (London), Neyther the spightfull temerity and rashnes of variable fortune, nor the envious hart burning and in iurious hatred of mine enemies shold be able once to damnify me."
- 2 fearless daring wordnet
- 3 An act or case of reckless boldness. countable
"Draper, dear lad, had the illusion of an "intellectual sympathy" between them.... Draper's temerities would always be of that kind."
- 4 Effrontery; impudence. uncountable
"He had very nearly been guilty of the temerity of arrogating to himself another title in the presence of those he most respected."
Example
More examples"Methinks I am like a man, who having struck on many shoals, and having narrowly escap'd shipwreck in passing a small frith, has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far as to think of compassing the globe under these disadvantageous circumstances."
Etymology
From Middle English temerite, temeryte, from Old French temerité, from Latin temeritās (“chance, accident, rashness”), from temere (“by chance, casually, rashly”). By surface analysis, temer(arious) + -ity.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.