CHEEKY


Meaning of CHEEKY in English

cheek ‧ y /ˈtʃiːki/ BrE AmE adjective British English

rude or disrespectful, sometimes in a way that is amusing

cheeky devil/monkey etc

You did that on purpose, you cheeky little devil!

Now don’t be cheeky to your elders, young woman.

a chubby five-year-old with a cheeky grin

—cheekily adverb :

He grinned cheekily.

—cheekiness noun [uncountable]

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ rude not following the rules of good social behaviour or treating other people with a lack of respect:

It’s rude to interrupt.

|

He’s the rudest man I’ve ever met.

|

rude remarks about her stomach

▪ impolite/not polite not following the rules of good social behaviour. Impolite sounds rather formal:

It is impolite to stare.

|

It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full of food.

▪ cheeky British English , smart/sassy American English behaving in a way that is a little rude, especially when this is amusing or annoying – used especially about children:

a cheeky grin

|

Let go, you cheeky monkey (=cheeky child) !

|

Don’t get smart with me!

▪ tactless saying things that are likely to upset or embarrass someone, without intending to:

a tactless remark

|

How could you be so tactless?

▪ offensive speaking or behaving in a way that is likely to upset or offend someone:

His remarks are offensive to African-Americans.

|

offensive language

▪ insulting speaking or behaving in a way that is very rude and offensive to someone:

comments that are insulting to women

|

The article was full of insulting language.

▪ discourteous /dɪsˈkɜːtiəs $ -ɜːr-/ formal rather rude. Discourteous sounds very formal and is often used when talking about being careful not to upset someone’s feelings:

He did not wish to appear discourteous towards his host.

|

It would seem discourteous to refuse her offer.

▪ ill-mannered ( also bad-mannered ) especially written behaving in a rude way, especially because you have never been taught how to behave politely:

Ill-mannered movie-goers talked throughout the entire picture.

|

It was very bad-mannered.

▪ disrespectful not showing the proper respect for someone or something:

I felt her comments were disrespectful to all the people who have worked so hard on this project.

▪ impertinent formal not showing a proper respect for someone, especially by asking or talking about subjects that you do not have a right to know about:

an impertinent question about his private life

|

an impertinent young man

|

Would it be impertinent to ask how old you are?

▪ insolent formal behaving in a way that is deliberately very rude to someone in authority:

The girl’s only response was an insolent stare.

|

Don’t be so insolent!

▪ impudent formal rude, and having no respect for people who are older or more important:

The boy gave an impudent smile.

▪ irreverent showing a lack of respect for someone or something who people are supposed to respect – used especially about comedy programmes and newspaper articles:

an irreverent look at the week’s events

|

his irreverent sense of humour

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.