What does audacious mean?
Word: Audacious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Audacious means willing to take bold risks; sometimes also bold in a rude or shocking way.
Synonyms: bold, daring, fearless, brazen
Antonyms: cautious, meek
Word origin: Comes from Latin audax 'bold', from audere 'to dare'.
How do you spell audacious?
Syllables: au - da - cious
Tricky part: The sh sound near the end is spelt ci, because the word comes from audacity. Audatious is the slip.
Watch out for: audatious, audashious
Memory tip: Audacity becomes audacious: the c of audacity stays put, so the sh sound is never spelt t or sh.
Audacious in a sentence
Example 1: The audacious plan to climb the peak in winter worried their parents.
Example 2: It was audacious of him to ask the chief guest for a selfie in the middle of her speech.
Example 3: The striker tried an audacious shot from the halfway line.
Fun Fact
The Roman poet Virgil wrote audentes fortuna iuvat, fortune helps the daring; audentes comes from audere, the same verb that gave us audacious.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) humble : proud
b) careful : reckless
c) audacius : timid
d) generous : mean
Show answer
c) audacius : timid. Each pair is a word and its opposite; the bold word keeps an o before the final us.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. audacious 2. candid 3. obscure a. secretive b. well known c. faint-hearted
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
b) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
c) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
Show answer
c) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. A daring person is the reverse of a faint-hearted one; candid people hide nothing, and an obscure name is one few have heard.
Sound Check
In which word is 'au' pronounced differently?
a) autumn
b) aunt
c) cause
d) audacious
Show answer
b) aunt. In aunt the au is said like the a in father; in the others it is the aw of saw.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. An audacious plan is bold and daring. 2. An auditorium is a large room where people listen to performances. 3. Audacity means great shyness.
a) only 3 is true
b) only 1 and 2 are true
c) only 2 and 3 are true
d) all three are true
Show answer
b) only 1 and 2 are true. Audacity is boldness, the very opposite of shyness.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which act is the most audacious?
a) sailing alone around the world
b) walking to the nearest bus stop
c) reading quietly in the library
d) watering the plants each morning
Show answer
a) sailing alone around the world
2. If a speaker calls a request audacious, she probably thinks it is ___.
a) bold to the point of cheek
b) rather dull and boring
c) far too quiet to hear
d) polite and very modest
Show answer
a) bold to the point of cheek
