cheeky
adjective

- slightly rude or showing no respect, but often in a funny way.

Cambridge Dictionary

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USAGE

Cheeky is often defined with stuffy words like insolent, impudent, and impertinent, but it usually implies a sense of playfulness. ...

If you describe a comment as cheeky, you probably mean that it's a little impolite, but you probably don't think it's blatantly offensive or overly rude.

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SYNONYMS

Cheeky has shades of meaning according to the degree of offense taken, and this may vary between British and American English:

- At the offensive end are arrogant, disrespectful, impertinent, impudent, insolent, insubordinate, insulting, rude, shameless, smart-assed (US), smart-arsed (UK).

- Less offensive are ballsy, brassy, brash, cocky, cocksure, fresh, lippy, mouthy, mischievous, sassy, saucy, smart-alecky

- Another meaning is about getting noticed but unlikely to cause offense = audacious, assertive, bold, bold as brass, daring

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CHEEKY WILDE

One of the most celebrated quotations by anyone is the cheeky remark attributed to Oscar Wilde at New York Customs at the start of his lecture tour of America in 1882. On being asked if he had anything to declare, Wilde answered, “I have nothing to declare but my genius.”

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“Hey Jim, that was a CHEEKY remark you made in the meeting yesterday, fortunately the chairman found it quite amusing.”

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