blustered; blustering
ˈblə-st(ə-)riŋ 
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
Robert Browning1
: 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
F. A. Swinnerton1
: a violent boisterous blowing
… the strong breeze driving them was setting up a bluster on the water.—Rose Thurburn
Rose Thurburn2
: violent commotion
They do their work without bluster or ostentation.—Stanley Walker
Stanley Walker3
: loudly boastful or threatening speech
growing tired of his macho bluster
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
David E. Sanger, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2025
He’s accompanied on this journey by phonk vet DJ Smokey, a blustering mixtape host treating the occasion like a forensic investigation into the murder of the artist.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2025
Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Perhaps Thursday’s threat was just a bit of bluster from a president prone to tantrums — a one-off social media post that his more stable advisers will surely try to rein in to avoid an all-out panic.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bluster
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Verb
So far, the result is a blitz of mixed messages, conflicting signals and blustering threats, not unlike the way Mr. Trump and his aides talk about their ever-evolving tariff strategy.
—David E. Sanger, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2025
He’s accompanied on this journey by phonk vet DJ Smokey, a blustering mixtape host treating the occasion like a forensic investigation into the murder of the artist.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2025
Noun
The bluster, the flip-flopping, the tariffs slapped on islands inhabited only by penguins — these are all moments.
—Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Perhaps Thursday’s threat was just a bit of bluster from a president prone to tantrums — a one-off social media post that his more stable advisers will surely try to rein in to avoid an all-out panic.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bluster
Cite this Entry
“Bluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bluster. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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