My Merriam-Webster says audacity is a synonym of temerity. My problem with temirity that I confuse it with timorousness which is the opposite - thankfully there's no timority or we'd really be in trouble.
- I'll admit to having problems with Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney, also Sinclair Lewis and Upton Sinclair.
I disagree that M-W is identifying audacity as an absolute synonym. I saw the link you are referring to ("
synonyms see
TEMERITY"), but ultimately the definitions are such that
temerity lacks any sense whatsoever of praiseworthiness.
Audacity on the other hand, is more flexible and can be used to describe acts of daring without necessarily adding an element of censure as
temerity does. One definition of audacity is akin to temerity ("b: bold or arrogant disregard of normal restraints <had the audacity to defy his boss>") but another is not ("a: intrepid boldness").
The distinction brings to mind
Dead Poets Society, in which the teacher played by Robin Williams urges his students to "suck the marrow out of life," but later has to point out that he didn't intend for them to choke on the bone.
