bluster

1 of 2

verb

blus·​ter ˈblə-stər How to pronounce bluster (audio)
blustered; blustering ˈblə-st(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce bluster (audio)

intransitive verb

1
: to talk or act with noisy swaggering threats
brags and blusters but rarely does what he says he'll do
2
a
: to blow in stormy noisy gusts
a cold, blustering wind
b
: to be windy and boisterous
… when autumn blusters and the orchard rocks.Robert Browning

transitive verb

1
: to utter with noisy self-assertiveness
"I don't want to hear it!" he blustered.
2
: to drive or force by blustering
… trying to bluster us into the belief that they are much better than they look.F. A. Swinnerton
blusterer noun

bluster

2 of 2

noun

1
: a violent boisterous blowing
… the strong breeze driving them was setting up a bluster on the water.Rose Thurburn
2
: violent commotion
They do their work without bluster or ostentation.Stanley Walker
3
: loudly boastful or threatening speech
growing tired of his macho bluster
blusterous adjective
blustery adjective

Examples of bluster in a Sentence

Verb He brags and blusters, but he never really does what he says he'll do. “I don't want to hear it!” he blustered. The wind blustered through the valley. Noun We were all tired of his macho bluster. all the bluster in the campaign speech was intended to hide a lack of specifics
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
But Trump is a blustering, angry old man who performs a version of masculinity that’s immediately recognizable and, in some quarters, still admired as a sign of vibrancy. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024 Blazes that began on Friday spread through bushland and into populated areas on the edge of the coastal city of Viña del Mar, about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, fed by blustering wind and high temperatures. James Attwood, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2024 Such a moniker, blustered Jones, was symptomatic of the moral decline evident in a persuasive element of youth culture. Matt Thompson, SPIN, 7 Feb. 2024 On one midday afternoon last week, blustering winds whipped blankets of snow from the once-in-a-decade storm around Des Moines, where the streets were deserted, save for a handful of vehicles dotting the roads. Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2024 Swirling winds blustering at more than 1,000 miles per hour, along with heat rising from the planetary interior, create the gold and yellow atmospheric bands. Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010 McCallany’s Fritz is blustering and hectoring, but at his most terrifying when dominating his sons with mere hints and cheerfully casual games of intimate power. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2023 Our windiest day of autumn blew and blustered across the Washington area on Saturday, with powerful gusts attaining hold-onto-your-hat speeds, reaching into the 40 mph range. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2023 Trump could bluster his way through such one-sided fights and declare victory when none existed. Philip Elliott, TIME, 4 Oct. 2023
Noun
Manly remains the loud one with a wicked sense of humor and the bluster of a defensive line coach, while Stewart is still the quiet-yet-forceful voice of reason. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2024 This is more than the usual bluster, the pair of experts say. Min Joo Kim, Washington Post, 19 Jan. 2024 After all, for all his years of bluster, Erdogan may now have little interest in antagonizing the West. Soner Cagaptay, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024 For all their bluster, critics of Life didn’t cite factual errors. Tom Stanton, Detroit Free Press, 11 Feb. 2024 But Trump’s bluster, alongside a grim new war on the European continent, may have had some effect. Emily Rauhala, Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2024 For now, Maduro’s rhetoric remains largely symbolic and political bluster. Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2023 Despite the academic setting at Loyola Law School, the special hearing on deputy gangs — the commission’s ninth in the past two years — was marked by spectacle and bluster. Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2024 They are related: each moment suggests an America of testosterone and bluster, of xenophobia and nativism, of my way or the highway. TIME, 9 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bluster.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English blustren, probably from Middle Low German blüsteren

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bluster was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near bluster

Cite this Entry

“Bluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bluster. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bluster

1 of 2 verb
blus·​ter ˈbləs-tər How to pronounce bluster (audio)
blustered; blustering -t(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce bluster (audio)
1
: to blow violently and noisily
2
: to talk or act in a noisy boastful way
blusterer noun

bluster

2 of 2 noun
1
: a violent noise or commotion
2
: loudly boastful or threatening speech
blustery adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on bluster

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