effrontery

/ɪˈfrʌntəri/

Other forms: effronteries

If you rudely behave as if you have a right to something that you have no right to, you're committing effrontery. When a couple stroll into a crowded restaurant, demand the best table, and threaten the staff unless they're seated right away, that's effrontery.

People have been guilty of outrageously self-centered behavior at least since 1715, when effrontery was coined. Tracing to the French word effronté, meaning "shameless," the word effrontery is also connected to brazen, which means "of brass," and describes someone so accustomed to effrontery that he's hardened to it and has no concern for the harm done to others.

Definitions of effrontery

1. noun

   audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to
   synonyms: assumption, presumption, presumptuousness

   types:

   uppishness, uppityness

   assumption of airs beyond one's station

   type of:

   audaciousness, audacity

   aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery