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Glite Dictionary
that cheek

that cheek

9.9
A strong feeling of surprise and anger at someone's rude, bold act
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : esa audacia
  • I can't believe he spoke to the teacher like that—that cheek!

Examples

  • I can't believe that cheek! How dare she ask for more money!

  • You'd think he'd apologize, but no; that cheek just left the room smiling.

  • She tried to return the gift she broke—that cheek never fails to amaze me.

  • Did you hear that cheek she had when she asked for a raise?

  • I can't believe he spoke to the teacher like that—that cheek!

  • You'd think he'd apologize, but no; that cheek just left the room smiling.

  • I can't believe that cheek! How dare she ask for more money!

Synonyms

bite me
vsthat cheek
  • Offensive
10 9.9

A rude phrase people use to tell someone you are annoyed and do not care

expresses surprise or mild annoyance at bold or impudent behaviour
how very dare you
vsthat cheek
  • Informal
9.9

Show strong anger and disbelief at someone's words or actions

is milder, showing surprise or annoyance at audacity rather than outrage

Antonyms

humility
105 3.8

Being modest and not thinking you are better than other people

modesty
27 3.5

Not being proud or bragging about your abilities

Surface Forms

that cheek singular
that cheeks plural

Morphology

that + cheek

The meaning 'annoyance at someone's audacity' is directly built from the demonstrative 'that' modifying 'cheek' in its sense of impudence, so a learner who knows both constituent meanings can compose the overall sense. While 'cheek' also has a literal facial meaning, the impudence sense plus the demonstrative pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, making the expression readily understandable.

Etymology

The expression that cheek may come from old slang where cheek meant the face or mouth people used when speaking back to someone. Imagine someone talking right into another person's face with bold, rude words; that's why people said that cheek to show surprise or annoyance at 'rudeness'.