cheeky
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈt͡ʃiːki/
rhymes: -iːki
Forms: form: cheekier
form: cheekiest
Etymology: From cheek + -y.
Compary typologically barefaced, bald-faced; Italian sfacciato (< Latin ex- + faciēs); French effronté, Italian sfrontato (< Latin ex- + frons), Polish czelny (< czoło).
Senses: examples: text: 'Shut up,' said Harrison. 'You chaps always behave as if you were jawin' us when we come to jaw you.' / 'You're a lot too cheeky,' said Craye.
ref: 1899 February, Rudyard Kipling, “The Impressionists”, in Stalky & Co., London: Macmillan & Co., published 1899, →OCLC, page 112:
text: The Young Turks, as might have been expected, wrote in their customary flippant, cheeky style.
ref: 1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in The Swoop! or How Clarence Saved England:
glosses: Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.
examples: text: Barry said he introduced the cheeky bikini to the Coast three years ago: "I took a theatrical garment worn for as long as there have been strippers and showgirls — the G-string — and put it on the beach and gave it a name and we sold a heap."
ref: 1984, Hugh Lunn, Queenslanders, page 159:
text: Joyce Azria oversees a staff of twelve, manages a multimillion-dollar budget, and, in her first year as director of BCBG swimwear, designed cheeky bikinis and deep-V maillots that became top sellers at Bloomingdale's.
ref: 2002, Elle, volume 17:
qualifier: underwear
glosses: Tending to expose the cheeks of the buttocks.
raw_tags: of swimwear
examples: text: A death adder is cheeky, a tree snake quiet. Wasps are only cheeky if you hold them in your hand.
ref: 1994, Victoria Katherine Burbank, Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 57:
text: There is no doubt that many have been killed by large elapids, and that Aborigines treat such 'cheeky' snakes (and colubrids of similar appearance) with great respect.
ref: 1995, Richard Shine, Australian Snakes: A Natural History, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 176:
qualifier: Australian Aboriginal
glosses: Poisonous (of animals such as snakes), dangerous, cunning, violent, potent.
examples: text: Although sometimes I'd award myself a cheeky McDonald's hangover treat if I did well.
ref: 2009, Amy Huberman, Hello, Heartbreak, Penguin UK, →ISBN:
text: It was a massive struggle to resist the lure of a cheeky beer, but I held firm.
ref: 2010, Richard Herring, How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort of., Random House, →ISBN, page 285:
text: It transpired that Mrs Egg had been cooking dinner when she discovered Mr Singlet making himself a sandwich. I don't know about you but it does seem a little bit naught after she's gone to all that effort. Naughty yes but hardly a crime and certainly not enough to warrant a 999 call. Yet that's what she had done. That's why we had left our own dinner, charged through rush hour traffic, disrupted commuters on their way home – all for a cheeky sandwich.
ref: 2011, John Donoghue, Police, Crime & 999, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 7:
text: The great thing was it gave him a little bit of freedom and me the chance to sneak a cheeky nap.
ref: 2011, James Goss, Torchwood: First Born, Random House, →ISBN, page 20:
glosses: Indulged in.
Synonyms: word: sassy
word: saucy
word: insolent
word: audacious
word: bold
word: get wise
word: bold-faced
word: bold as brass
word: brassy
word: brazen
word: brazen-faced
word: cheeky
word: chutzpadik
word: cocket
word: cute
word: dicacious
word: facey
word: familiar
word: flippant
word: flip
word: forward
word: fresh
word: impudent
word: impertinent
word: irreverent
word: malapert
word: pert
word: petulant
Hypernyms: word: brash
word: disrespectful
word: impish
word: impolite
word: mischievous
Hyponyms: word: lippy
Derived terms: cheekily
cheekiness
cheeky chappie
cheeky chops
cheeky monkey
cheeky Vimto
cheeky yam
Related terms: word: ornery
word: facetious