bold

Extremely courageous and daring. You need to be bold as a lion to have success in this field. Billionaires don't want timid PR people. You have to be bold as a lion to go into a dangerous place like that! You sure are bold as a lion, asking the boss to explain his decision in front of everyone like that.

Brave. The phrase might refer to the 1346 feat of Thomas Beauchamp, who defeated 100 Normans with very little military support. Wow, you really ran into a burning building and saved all those people? You're as bold as Beauchamp! Those explorers were as bold as Beauchamp to venture out into the wilds of Antarctica. As bold as Beauchamp, the sailor leapt from the ship with his sword in his teeth and pounced on the pirate captain.

In a brash, arrogant, or pushy manner. Can you believe that new hire went to the boss, as bold as brass, and asked for time off on his first day? That girl walked up, as bold as brass, and pushed her way to the front of the line! Joyce has always been bold as brass, so I'm not surprised she's trying to coerce you into visiting this weekend.

To do something that is (or could be perceived as) surprising, daring, or perhaps inappropriate. The phrase is often used before a question to soften it. May I be so bold as to ask for a second helping? I'd like to propose a different plan, if I may be so bold. A: "May I be so bold as to make a suggestion?" B: "Certainly, we welcome your expertise."

To do something that is (or could be seen as) surprising, daring, and perhaps inappropriate. That girl just got here but was so bold as to push her way to the front of the line! I can't be so bold as to ask my boss for a raise. Yeah, I'm not so bold as to tell my superior that her whole report is fundamentally flawed!

Visually striking. This phrase typically describes things, not people. I think more people will come into your store now that you have a big and bold marquee. I know this graphic designer will come up with a big and bold design for your brochure. When I was a kid, the big and bold logos on stores freaked me out. They just felt so enormous!

One who tells blatantly obvious or impudent untruths easily and with little or no attempt to disguise the lie. Everyone knows he is just a bold-faced liar. It's a wonder anyone believes a thing he says anymore. I did not take Jenna's candy bar! She's a bold-faced liar! My brother is nothing but a bold-faced liar when Mom and Dad ask him where he goes at night.

A blatantly obvious or impudent untruth, one in which the liar does not attempt to disguise their mendacity. Sir, I have never done these things of which you accuse me; they are bold-faced lies, and nothing more. If you keep telling bold-faced lies like this, eventually, no one will believe a thing you say! Our son tells us nothing but bold-faced lies when we ask him where he goes at night.

proverb Courageous action is often rewarded. The phrase encourages people to do what scares them. A variation is "fortune favors the brave." I know you're nervous about asking for a raise, but keep in mind that fortune favors the bold—you'll never get anything if you don't ask for it. I decided to ask out the most popular girl in school because fortune favors the bold, right? A: "Eek! I can't believe I posted that video of me singing to ViewTube!" B: "Hey, fortune favors the bold, doesn't it?"

proverb Courageous action is often rewarded. The phrase encourages people to take bold actions. I know you're nervous about asking for a raise, but keep in mind that fortune favors the brave—you'll never get anything if you don't ask for it. I decided to ask out the most popular girl in school because fortune favors the brave, right? A: "Eek! I can't believe I posted that video of me singing to ViewTube!" B: "Hey, fortune favors the brave, doesn't it?"

To do something that is (or could be seen as) surprising, daring, and perhaps inappropriate. This phrase can be used before such a question to soften it. May I make bold and ask for a second helping? I wouldn't presume to make bold and suggest any wrongdoing on the councilor's part.

To do something that is (or could be perceived as) surprising, daring, or perhaps inappropriate. The phrase is often used before a question to soften it. May I make so bold as to ask for a second helping? I'd like to propose a different plan, if I may make so bold.

To act as though a particular situation is not as grim, hopeless, or undesirable as it really is. Although my mother tried to put a bold face on her medical situation, I knew that her health was rapidly deteriorating. They tried to put a bold face on their break-up, but we all knew that they had been fighting with each other for weeks.

To act as though a particular situation is not as undesirable or grim as it really is. Although my mother tried to put a good face on her medical situation, I knew that her health was rapidly deteriorating. They tried to put a good face on their break-up, but we all knew that they had been fighting with each other for weeks.

to dare to do something. Would you care to dance, if I may make so bold as to ask? She was so bold to confront her rival.

large and capable of getting attention. (Usually refers to things, not people.) The big and bold lettering on the book's cover got lots of attention, but the price was too high. She wore a brightly colored dress. The pattern was big and bold and the skirt was very full.

very bold; bold to the point of rudeness. (*Also: as ~.) Lisa marched into the manager's office, bold as brass, and demanded her money back. The tiny kitten, as bold as brass, began eating the dog's food right under the dog's nose.

Prov. You will have good luck if you carry out your plans boldly. (Used to encourage people to have the courage to carry out their plans.) Fortune favors the bold, Bob. Quit your day job and work on your novel full-time. Jill: Let's wait till next year before trying to start our own business. Jane: No. We'll do it this year. Fortune favors the brave.

Large and striking, as in His ties tended to be big and bold in color and pattern, or This big and bold design for a book jacket is sure to catch the casual browser's eye. This phrase, used mostly to describe things rather than persons, is a kind of visual analog of loud and clear.

Shameless, audacious, impudent. For example, No one had invited her to the wedding, but she showed up at the church, bold as brass. This alliterative simile plays on brass meaning "shamelessness." [c. 1700]

Also, make so bold as. Dare, presume, take the liberty of doing something, as in Let me make bold and ask you to back me as a member, or I will not make so bold as to criticize a respected scholar. This expression was frequently used by Shakespeare but is heard less often today. [Late 1500s]

If someone does something bold as brass, they do it without being ashamed or embarrassed. Their leader, bold as brass, came improperly dressed, wearing a lounge suit while all the others were wearing black ties. Barry has come into the game bold as brass, brash and businesslike. Note: This expression may be based on an incident that occurred in Britain in 1770, when the newspaper the London Evening Post illegally published a report of Parliamentary proceedings. As a result, the printer was put in prison. The Lord Mayor, Brass Crosby, released him and was punished by being imprisoned himself. There were public protests and Crosby was soon released.

To venture: I will not make so bold as to criticize such a scholar.

A shamelessly bold untruth/prevaricator. Bare here means bold-faced or brazen, but one writer speculates that barefaced, which dates from the late sixteenth century, originally meant “beardless,” a condition perhaps considered audacious in all but the youngest men. In any event, by the late seventeenth century it also meant bold and became attached to lie in succeeding years. See also naked truth.

Shameless, impudent. This simile probably has the same source as brazen, which can mean either “made of brass” or “shameless,” “too bold.” The latter is older, dating at least from Shakespeare’s time (“What a brazen-faced varlet art thou!” King Lear, 2.2). The present cliché dates from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, although brass alone in the sense of “shameless” is older (sixteenth century). “Can any face of brass hold longer out?” wrote Shakespeare in Love’s Labour’s Lost (5.2), and Thomas Fuller (The Profane State, 1642) wrote still more explicitly, “His face is of brasse, which may be said either ever or never to blush.”

To make the best of things. This term has been around since the fourteenth century, and the practice itself, of pretending things are better than they are, is no doubt much older. “Set a good face on a bad matter,” wrote Humphrey Gifford (A Posie of Gilloflowers, 1580).