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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Insolent \In"so*lent\, adjective [F. insolent, L. insolens, -entis, pref. in- not + solens accustomed, p. pr. of solere to be accustomed.]
1. Deviating from that which is customary; novel; strange; unusual. [Obs.]
If one chance to derive any word from the Latin which is insolent to their ears . . . they forthwith make a jest at it. --Pettie.
If any should accuse me of being new or insolent. --Milton.
2. Haughty and contemptuous or brutal in behavior or language; overbearing; domineering; grossly rude or disrespectful; saucy; as, an insolent master; an insolent servant. ''A paltry, insolent fellow.'' --Shak.
Insolent is he that despiseth in his judgment all other folks as in regard of his value, of his cunning, of his speaking, and of his bearing. --Chaucer.
Can you not see? or will ye not observe . . . How insolent of late he is become, How proud, how peremptory? --Shak.
3. Proceeding from or characterized by insolence; insulting; as, insolent words or behavior.
Their insolent triumph excited . . . indignation. --Macaulay.
Syn: Overbearing; insulting; abusive; offensive; saucy; impudent; audacious; pert; impertinent; rude; reproachful; opprobrious.
Usage: {Insolent}, {Insulting}. Insolent, in its primitive sense, simply denoted unusual; and to act insolently was to act in violation of the established rules of social intercourse. He who did this was insolent; and thus the word became one of the most offensive in our language, indicating gross disregard for the feelings of others. Insulting denotes a personal attack, either in words or actions, indicative either of scorn or triumph. Compare {Impertinent}, {Affront}, {Impudence}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
insolent
adjective
1: marked by casual disrespect; "a flip answer to serious question"; "the student was kept in for impudent behavior" [syn: {impudent}, {snotty-nosed}, {flip}]
2: unrestrained by convention or propriety; "an audacious trick to pull"; "a barefaced hypocrite"; "the most bodacious display of tourism this side of Anaheim"- Los Angeles Times; "bold-faced lies"; "brazen arrogance"; "the modern world with its quick material successes and insolent belief in the boundless possibilities of progress"- Bertrand Russell [syn: {audacious}, {barefaced}, {bodacious}, {bold-faced}, {brassy}, {brazen}, {brazen-faced}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
114 Moby Thesaurus words for "insolent": abusive, arrogant, assuming, atrocious, audacious, aweless, backhand, backhanded, bold, brash, brassy, brazen, brazenfaced, bumptious, callous, calumnious, cavalier, challenging, cheeky, cocky, cold, contemptuous, contumelious, cool, crude, daring, defiant, defying, degrading, derisive, dictatorial, discourteous, disdainful, disparaging, disregardful, disrespectful, familiar, forward, fresh, greatly daring, hard, hardened, haughty, high-and-mighty, hubristic, humiliating, impenitent, imperative, impertinent, impolite, improvident, imprudent, impudent, inaffable, incautious, indiscreet, injudicious, insubordinate, insulting, irreverent, left-handed, lofty, magisterial, obdurate, obtrusive, offensive, outrageous, overbearing, overbold, overcareless, overconfident, overpresumptuous, oversure, overweening, peremptory, pert, presuming, presumptuous, procacious, pushy, rash, regardless of consequences, ridiculing, rude, saucy, scurrile, scurrilous, self-appointed, self-elect, supercilious, superior, temerarious, unabject, unaccommodating, unchary, uncivil, uncomplaisant, uncontrite, uncourteous, uncourtly, ungallant, ungracious, unmelted, unpolite, unrepentant, unrepenting, unsoftened, unspeakable, untouched, unwary, uppish, uppity, wise, would-be
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