Impertinent, a.
Etymology: [F., fr. L. impertinens, -entis; pref. im- not + pertinens. See Pertinent.]
1. Not pertinent; not pertaining to the matter in hand; having no bearing on the subject; not to the point; irrelevant; inapplicable. Things that are impertinent to us. Tillotson. How impertinent that grief was which served no end! Jer. Taylor.
2. Contrary to, or offending against, the rules of propriety or good breeding; guilty of, or prone to, rude, unbecoming, or uncivil words or actions; as, an impertient coxcomb; an impertient remark.
3. Trifing; inattentive; frivolous.
Syn. -- Rude; officious; intrusive; saucy; unmannerly; meddlesome; disrespectful; impudent; insolent. -- Impertinent, Officious, Rude. A person is officious who obtrudes his offices or assistance where they are not needed; he is impertinent when he intermeddles in things with which he has no concern. The former shows a want of tact, the latter a want of breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer impudence. A person is rude when he violates the proprieties of social life either from ignorance or wantonness. "An impertinent man will ask questions for the mere grafication of curiosity; a rude man will burst into the room of another, or push against his person, inviolant of all decorum; one who is officious is quite as unfortunate as he is troublesome; when he strives to serve, he has the misfortune to annoy." Crabb. See Impudence, and Insolent.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Impertinent, n.
An impertinent person. [R.]
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for impertinent; he lists it under alien, meddlesome.
Where he writes about it:
Impertinent and irrelevant matters can not claim consideration in a certain connection; inappropriate matters could not properly be considered. — from alien