SWAGGERING Synonyms: 176 Similar and Opposite Words

swaggering 1 of 2

adjective

as in cocky

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swaggering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of swagger

as in boasting

to praise or express pride in one's own possessions, qualities, or accomplishments often to excess I, too, would swagger if I'd won first place in the bowling tournament

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in strutting

to walk with exaggerated arm and leg movements hoping to impress the women at the bar, the young man confidently swaggered across the room

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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 swaggering

Adjective

In between the swaggering pronouncements, Jaggseer waxes poetic about dusty roads and Chevy trucks and reflects on humble beginnings and hard work. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026 That year, the group, whose official name is Ansar Allah, surged to prominence by capturing Sana’a, the country’s capital, a swaggering first step in their evolution from a scruffy militia to the rulers of large swaths of Yemeni territory. — Kareem Fahim, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026 The swaggering track, which sees the artists joining voices on the chorus, will get an official music video later today. — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2026 Unlike the swaggering Daemon, this wounded Aemond is vulnerable. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 The boxing ring metaphor was largely abandoned once the competition began, even though there were more opportunities to mix baseball’s tradition of walkup music with fight sports’ swaggering walkouts. — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 14 July 2026 Soprano Anna Thompson sings the role of the faithful Micaëla, and Mexican baritone Raúl Morales Velazco is the swaggering toreador Escamillo. — Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 9 July 2026 The group went on to earn national and international acclaim before its swaggering leader, Country Dick Montana, died on stage midway through a 1995 show in Canada. — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026 The clip of Cawley speaking about Marsch was used to highlight what some believe is the downside of Marsch’s swaggering attitude. — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 24 June 2026

Verb

Here’s Steve Jobs, swaggering around to a different Drake song with a bottle of champagne in his hand (371,000 views). — Mia Sato, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026 And in the event that someone wasn’t aware of what Children of Blood and Bone was, the panel did its job, promising an exuberant, swaggering epic with a charming cast to inhabit it. — Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026 His strength in the late nineties was a kind of calm under pressure, and his power in the next decade was translating that swaggering cool for ever-larger stages. — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026 Urushadze presents a sympathetic portrait of Niaz, a man who once embodied a certain type of swaggering masculinity but now seems adrift in the modern world. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 21 Aug. 2026 But Marx, 61, a former Marine and expert in martial arts, is nothing if not swaggering. — Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026 After all those swaggering herbal notes faded, tasters said Roku finished with breezy floral qualities—lavender and rose. — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 May 2026 The advertisement opened with a backside shot of a man clothed in Levi’s jeans, a western shirt and leather gloves, swaggering up to a pair of saloon doors. — Jack Armstrong, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026 Don the swaggering employee needs to learn a lesson about gender identity. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 15 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for swaggering

Adjective

Innanen‘s characters in the five-episode series include a manager lacking confidence, a cocky cruise specialist, an adventure expert who deeply fears adventure and a Francophile who hasn‘t left American soil since the late ’90s.

— Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
On the field, there’s drama between head coach Danny Roarke (Christopher Meloni) and the cocky quarterback.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of cocky

Verb

With a generation of listeners boasting shorter attention spans and having a glut of releases at their disposal, projects tend to get discarded within weeks, and this kind of move can help alleviate that.

— Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 14 Oct. 2026
Tailored for grand-scale leisure and entertainment, a double-height, skylit entry foyer boasting a sweeping artisan ironwork staircase leads to formal living and dining rooms.

— Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of boasting

Verb

The Tigers are off to their fourth consecutive 5-1 start under Drinkwitz, and their head coach is definitely strutting his stuff on the microphone week in and week out.

— Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Argentina’s queen of perreo-rave has become a South American it-girl, landing buzzy domestic collaborations with Dillom and Emilia Mernes, and strutting into the international spotlight with guest spots on tracks from Shy Girl and Yeri Mua.

— Richard Villegas, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of strutting

Adjective

The trailer for The Magician’s Nephew premiered in front of a full Imax theater in the AMC at Lincoln Square, revealing a first look at Gerwig’s bombastic, epic spectacle.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026
On its face, the fair, slated for June 25 to July 10, was a bombastic mess.

— Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of bombastic

Verb

The steady hum of activity hits a particularly resonant pitch on the Second Sunday of each month when the street closes to vehicular traffic and becomes a European-style pedestrian mall with outdoor eateries and prancing pets on leash.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Iggy Pop, still prancing, howling and whooping with his chest exposed and jeans sliding down his waist, claims the title of the festival’s leading elder statesman.

— Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of prancing

Adjective

He a notoriously vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard well versed in Memory Charms who is recruited by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026
Defense witnesses pointed to boastful teens, fireworks-like flashes and uncertain ignition points, with an expert arguing that fireworks were the likely cause and that prosecutors lack proof that a lighter sparked the blaze.

— Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026

Definition of boastful

Verb

Nina nodded and looked across the restaurant to watch two tall women, flight attendants, striding resolutely through the concourse, their legs in perfect rhythm.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Rossi is deeply inspired by Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, the Futurist sculpture of a figure striding forward, its body fragmented into aerodynamic forms that suggest speed and movement.

— Alison S. Cohn, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of striding

Browse Nearby Words

swaggerers

swaggering

swaggeringly

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Style

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

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Synonyms of swaggering

adjective

verb

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