I. |malə|pərt adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, unskillful, ill-taught, from mal badly + apert able, skillful, modification (influenced by Latin ad- ) of Latin expertus expert — more at mal- , expert
: impudently bold : saucy
untutored lad, thou art too malapert — Shakespeare
returning the woman's stare with a look of malapert challenge — Llewelyn Powys
• mal·a·pert·ness noun
II. noun
( -s )
: a malapert person
the malapert knew well enough I laughed at her — Richard Steele