Brass vs. Brazen — What's the Difference?

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve varying mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other within the same crystal structure.

Bold and without shame

A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc.

Made of brass

Ornaments, objects, or utensils made of this alloy.

Endure an embarrassing or difficult situation by behaving with apparent confidence and lack of shame

The section of a band or an orchestra composed of brass instruments.

Unrestrained by a sense of shame; rudely bold.

Brass instruments or their players considered as a group.

Having a loud, usually harsh, resonant sound

A memorial plaque or tablet made of brass, especially one on which an effigy is incised.

Made of brass.

A bushing or similar lining for a bearing, made from a copper alloy.

Resembling brass, as in color or strength.

(Informal) Bold self-assurance; effrontery.

To face or undergo with bold self-assurance

(Slang) High-ranking military officers or other high officials.

(archaic) Pertaining to, made of, or resembling brass (in color or strength).

Chiefly British Money.

Sounding harsh and loud, like brass cymbals or brass instruments.

(uncountable) A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.

(archaic) Extremely strong; impenetrable; resolute.

A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten

Shamelessly shocking and offensive; audacious; impudent; barefaced; immodest, unblushing.

Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass

(intransitive) To turn a brass color.

(music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; the section of an orchestra that features such instruments

(transitive) Generally followed by out or through: to carry through in a brazen manner; to act boldly despite embarrassment, risk, etc.

Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired.

Pertaining to, made of, or resembling, brass.

(uncountable) The colour of brass.

Sounding harsh and loud, like resounding brass.

High-ranking officers.

Impudent; immodest; shameless; having a front like brass; as, a brazen countenance.

A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence.

To carry through impudently or shamelessly; as, to brazen the matter through.

Money.

Face with defiance or impudence;

Inferior composition.

Unrestrained by convention or propriety;

A brass nail; a prostitute.

Made of or resembling brass (as in color or hardness)

Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.

Of the colour of brass.

(informal) Impertinent, bold: brazen.

(slang) Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.

Of inferior composition.

(slang) Brass monkey; cold.

(transitive) To coat with brass.

An alloy (usually yellow) of copper and zinc, in variable proportion, but often containing two parts of copper to one part of zinc. It sometimes contains tin, and rarely other metals.

A journal bearing, so called because frequently made of brass. A brass is often lined with a softer metal, when the latter is generally called a white metal lining. See Axle box, Journal Box, and Bearing.

Coin made of copper, brass, or bronze.

Impudence; a brazen face.

Utensils, ornaments, or other articles of brass.

A brass plate engraved with a figure or device. Specifically, one used as a memorial to the dead, and generally having the portrait, coat of arms, etc.

Lumps of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, the color of which is near to that of brass.

An alloy of copper and zinc

A wind instrument that consists of a brass tube (usually of variable length) blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece

The persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something;

Impudent aggressiveness;

An ornament or utensil made of brass

The section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments

A memorial made of brass