Impudent means boldly disrespectful. An impudent question, impudent boy, impudently direct.
It is old-fashioned and rather grand, and it implies a junior being bold with a senior — which is why it sounds most natural from somebody in authority. It is stronger than cheeky and lighter than insolent. Note impudence, which is commoner as a noun; and that the Latin means shameless, from pudere, to feel shame, so an impudent person feels no embarrassment.
1adjectiveimpudentBoldly disrespectful.
“The impudent boy stuck his tongue out at the teacher behind her back.”
impudent is a quality of bold disrespect.
Latin impudens is in- plus pudens, from pudere, to feel shame. Pudency and the anatomical pudenda come from the same shame.
Latin
impudēns — shameless
Middle English
impudent
English, today
impudent
From Middle English impudent, originally meaning immodest, shameless, from Latin impudēns (“shameless”), ultimately from in + pudere.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA