Word of the Day

: March 29, 2024

braggadocio

noun brag-uh-DOH-see-oh

What It Means

Braggadocio refers to brash and self-confident boasting—that is, the annoying or exaggerated talk of someone who is trying to sound very proud or brave.

// His braggadocio hid the fact that he felt personally inadequate.

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braggadocio in Context

“In total, Lil Wayne has sold more than 120 million albums, making him one of the world's top-selling artists, and, his braggadocio aside, he's widely considered one of most influential hip-hop artists of his generation and one of the greatest rappers of all time.” — L. Kent Wolgamott, The Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star, 1 Feb. 2024

Did You Know?

Though Braggadocio is not as well-known as other fictional characters like Pollyanna, the Grinch, or Scrooge, in lexicography he holds a special place next to them as one of the many characters whose name has become an established word in English. The English poet Edmund Spenser originally created Braggadocio as a personification of boasting in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. As early as 1594, about four years after the poem was published, English speakers began using the name as a general term for any blustering blowhard. The now more common use of braggadocio, referring to the talk or behavior of such windy cockalorums, developed in the early 18th century.