bravado
noun
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Displays of bravado may be show-offish, daring, reckless, and inconsistent with good sense—take, for example, the spectacular feats of stuntpeople—but when successful they are still likely to be met with shouts of "bravo!" Celebrities, political leaders, corporate giants, and schoolyard bullies, however, may show a different flavor of bravado: one that suggests an overbearing boldness that comes from arrogance or a position of power. The word bravado originally comes from the Old Italian adjective bravo, meaning "wild" or "courageous," which English has also to thank for the more ubiquitous brave.
Examples of bravado in a Sentence
Ted Ladd, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Reddit message boards lit up once again with rocket emojis and call-option bravado.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 26 July 2025
The trailer plunges viewers into a world of high-gloss espionage, where every frame is loaded with kinetic energy and visual bravado.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 25 July 2025
There was some of Pogba’s usual bravado in a video entitled ‘La Renaissance’ — rebirth — which showed his face being carved into a rockface, Mount Rushmore style.
—Tomás Hill López-Menchero, New York Times, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for bravado
Cite this Entry
“Bravado.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bravado. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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bravado
noun
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