cheeky

Adjective

cheeky (comparative cheekier, superlative cheekiest)

1. (informal) Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.
   • 'Shut up,' said Harrison. 'You chaps always behave as if you were jawin' us when we come to jaw you.' / 'You're a lot too cheeky,' said Craye.1899 February, Rudyard Kipling, “The Impressionists”, in Stalky & Co., London: Macmillan & Co., published 1899, →OCLC, page 112
   • The Young Turks, as might have been expected, wrote in their customary flippant, cheeky style.1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in The Swoop! or How Clarence Saved England
2. (informal, usually, underwear) Tending to expose the cheeks of the buttocks.
   • Barry said he introduced the cheeky bikini to the Coast three years ago: "I took a theatrical garment worn for as long as there have been strippers and showgirls — the G-string — and put it on the beach and gave it a name and we sold a heap."1984, Hugh Lunn, Queenslanders, page 159
   • Joyce Azria oversees a staff of twelve, manages a multimillion-dollar budget, and, in her first year as director of BCBG swimwear, designed cheeky bikinis and deep-V maillots that became top sellers at Bloomingdale's.2002, Elle, volume 17
3. (Australian Aboriginal) Poisonous (of animals such as snakes), dangerous, cunning, violent, potent.
   • A death adder is cheeky, a tree snake quiet. Wasps are only cheeky if you hold them in your hand.1994, Victoria Katherine Burbank, Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 57
   • There is no doubt that many have been killed by large elapids, and that Aborigines treat such 'cheeky' snakes (and colubrids of similar appearance) with great respect.1995, Richard Shine, Australian Snakes: A Natural History, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 176
4. (Commonwealth, UK, informal) Indulged in as a treat, especially an unhealthy one.
   • Although sometimes I'd award myself a cheeky McDonald's hangover treat if I did well.2009, Amy Huberman, Hello, Heartbreak, Penguin UK, →ISBN
   • It was a massive struggle to resist the lure of a cheeky beer, but I held firm.2010, Richard Herring, How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort of., Random House, →ISBN, page 285