pert

Etymology

Aphetic form of apert.

adj

1. (of a person) Attractive.
2. (of a part of the body) Well-formed; shapely.
   pert breasts
3. Lively; alert and cheerful; bright.
   He was instantly attracted to Gladys's pert, fey humor and her good nature. 2001, Donald Spoto, chapter 1, in Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, page 11
4. (archaic) Especially of children or social inferiors: cheeky, impertinent.
   "You'll not be so pert when the Cornish seize you. They spit children like you and roast them on bonfires." 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 333
5. (obsolete) Open; evident; unhidden.
   Some parled as perte · as prouyd well after, / And clappid more ffor þe coyne · þat þe kyng oweth hem / Thanne ffor comfforte of þe comyne […] Some talked as openly, as proud well after, / And clapped more for the coin that the king owes them / Than for comfort of the common[…]] [15th century, “Richard the Redeles.] Passus Quartus.”, in Walter W[illiam] Skeat, editor, The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman, Dowel, Dobet, and Dobest,[…]. Richard the Redeles,[…] The Crowned King,[…] (Early English Text Society, Part III; 54) (in Middle English), London: […] [F]or the Early English Text Society by N[icholas] Trübner & Co.,[…], published 1873, →OCLC, lines 88–90, page 503
6. (obsolete) Clever.

verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To behave with pertness; to misbehave.

noun

1. (obsolete) An impudent person.