bravado

noun

Definition of bravadonext
as in arrogance
confident or brave talk or behavior that is intended to impress other people His stories are always told with bravado. I remember his youthful bravado.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bravado Mauricio Pochettino’s new-look group has youth, some bravado, and even now enough collectiveness to give the coach and those around the program significant optimism. — Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Another example is ridicule and mockery of stingy or braggadocious individuals, which keeps greed and bravado in check. — Christopher Von Rueden, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2026 No, that’s not false bravado masking insecurities about blowing it. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 1 Oct. 2026 But that bravado belied a much shier quality outside the ring. — Rudy Chinchilla, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bravado
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bravado
  1. arrogance
  2. attitude
Noun
  • An America that seeks justice with dignity and wisdom, not arrogance and gore.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • These fascinating, illuminating episodes raise the question of whether great fiction requires the kind of single-mindedness and even arrogance that McCarthy cultivated.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of arrogance
Noun
  • The system provides information about an aircraft’s attitude, heading and position to flight-critical systems.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The survey does not isolate young men or measure political attitudes.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of attitude

Browse Nearby Words

bratty
bravado
brave
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Bravado.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bravado. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All