effrontery

[ih-fruhn-tuh-ree] /ɪˈfrʌn tə ri/
noun, plural effronteries.
1.
shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity:
She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.
2.
an act or instance of this.
Origin
1705-15; < French effronterie, equivalent to Old French esfront shameless (es- ex-1 + front brow; see front) + -erie -ery
Synonyms
1. impertinence, impudence, cheek.
Examples from the web for effrontery
  • The naive effrontery of this book is more pitiful than ridiculous.
  • The sheer effrontery of the thing took my breath away.
  • He has the sheer effrontery of a movie star.
  • This effrontery has become part of his prissy jerky-boy routine.
  • The lawyer's natural effrontery did not desert him.
  • Abel dealt with the innocents, among whom he lived and schemed, with a kind of gentle effrontery.
  • But not without sundry twinges of impotent rebellion against the mild effrontery of this unaccountable scrivener.
  • The obvious effrontery to the court should not go unnoticed.
British Dictionary definitions for effrontery

effrontery

/ɪˈfrʌntərɪ/
noun (pl) -ies
1.
shameless or insolent boldness; impudent presumption; audacity; temerity
Word Origin
C18: from French effronterie, from Old French esfront barefaced, shameless, from Late Latin effrons, literally: putting forth one's forehead; see front
Word Origin and History for effrontery
n.

1715, from French effronterie, from effronté "shameless," from Old French esfronte "shameless, brazen," probably from Late Latin effrontem (nominative effrons) "barefaced," from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + frontem (nominative frons) "brow" (see front (n.)).

Latin frontus had a sense of "ability to blush," but the literal sense of effrontery often has been taken to be "putting forth the forehead." Forehead in Johnson's Dictionary (1755) has a secondary sense of "impudence; confidence; assurance; audaciousness; audacity."