bluster

play

verb blus·ter \ ˈblə-stər \

Definition of bluster

blustered; blustering play \ˈblə-st(ə-)riŋ\

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

play \-tər-ər\ noun

See bluster defined for English-language learners

See bluster defined for kids

Examples of bluster in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of bluster from the Web

While candidate Trump blustered about scrapping the nuclear deal altogether, his administration has been compelled to shy away from such drastic unilateral action.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "The U.S. and Iran are heading toward crisis," 19 July 2017
But at the end of the day, what Trump blusters about doesn't matter, at least this time—what matters is the Senate's actions that could hurt millions of Americans.

— megan friedman, Esquire, "Seth Meyers Breaks Down the 'Cartoonishly Evil' Trumpcare Bill," 27 June 2017
Despite intense backlash from customers and advocates, several federal investigations, and blustering lawmakers, the company has yet to drop the soaring price of its epinephrine auto-injectors, EpiPen, as The New York Times pointed out this weekend.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Mylan chairman: Drug pricing critics ought to go copulate with themselves," 5 June 2017
As Dexter Filkins recently wrote, in , some officials fear that Trump will bluster about terrorism in public but privately delegate strategy to the military.

— david rohde, The New Yorker, "What Donald Trump Can Do to Help Stop Terrorism: Talk Less," 4 June 2017
But this long work gets bogged down with heavy-handed comedic episodes that last too long, mostly involving the crude, blustering Baron Ochs, a cousin of the Marschallin.

— anthony tommasini, New York Times, "Review: Renée Fleming’s Poignant Farewell to ‘Der Rosenkavalier’," 14 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bluster.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bluster

Middle English blustren, probably from Middle Low German blüsteren

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

bluster Synonyms

Synonyms

rant, fulminate, huff, rave, spout

Related Words

sound off, speak out, speak up; blare, blurt out, bolt; bloviate, blow, declaim, harangue, mouth (off), orate, pontificate; carry on, rage, storm, take on

Near Antonyms

grunt, murmur, mutter, slur; breathe, whisper

bluster

noun

Definition of bluster

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

play \-t(ə-)rəs\ adjective

—

blustery

play \-t(ə-)rē\ adjective

See bluster defined for English-language learners

Examples of bluster in a Sentence

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 of bluster from the Web

So far, neither bluster nor entreaty has succeeded.

— The Economist, "Unwelcome choicesItaly is facing a surge of migration across the Mediterranean," 20 July 2017
Without being bad, he's constantly being upstaged, primarily by Bower's flamboyance, Meaney's bluster and DeJonge's radiantly winsome pluckiness.

— daniel fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Will': TV Review," 7 July 2017
Yet, fans knew that under the bluster there was a brave man, a good man, one that never needed to prove himself since Thor always had his back.

— michael sangiacomo, cleveland.com, "Good month for second stringers like Volstagg, She-Hulk, Aquaman and Bug (photos, video)," 27 June 2017
Bitcoin’s first felon is in his favorite mode: full-on bluster.

— brian patrick eha, Fortune, "Can Bitcoin’s First Felon Help Make Cryptocurrency a Trillion-Dollar Market?," 26 June 2017
Bars, bottoms and bluster make for great bulges of black humor in the novels of the prolific Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou.

— chandrahas choudhury, WSJ, "A Congolese Coming-of-Age," 23 June 2017
This is not the first time that Trump, the former star of reality TV and tabloids, has manufactured a melodrama that begins with bluster but often ends with a whimper.

— jonathan lemire and eric tucker, The Christian Science Monitor, "Trump claims he tweeted about secret tapes to keep Comey 'honest'," 23 June 2017
People who knew him from Powell's said he was given to one-sided conversations full of bluster.

— everton bailey jr., OregonLive.com, "West Linn police chief on leave amid policy violation investigation," 22 June 2017
While Oz may have been more bluster than actual magician , Barrymore and Kato are conjuring up some success in the wine industry.

— john kell, Fortune, "What Drew Barrymore Loves Most About Wine," 20 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of bluster

see ¹bluster

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1582

See Words from the same year

bluster Synonyms

Synonyms

bombast, brag, braggadocio, bull [slang], cockalorum, fanfaronade, gas, gasconade, grandiloquence, hot air, magniloquence, rant, rodomontade (also rhodomontade)

Antonyms

quiet, silence, silentness, still, stillness

Related Words

oratory, rhapsody, rhetoric; pomposity, turgidity, wind; bloviation, verbosity, windiness; babble, blab, chatter, drivel, gabble, gibber, gibberish, jabber, prattle; jawing, patter, prating, yammering; egotism, self-conceit, self-importance, swagger, vaunt

Near Antonyms

calm, hush, lull; quietude, serenity, tranquillity (or tranquility)

BLUSTER Defined for English Language Learners

bluster

play

verb

Definition of bluster for English Language Learners

: to speak in a loud and aggressive or threatening way
of wind : to blow loudly and violently

bluster

noun

Definition of bluster for English Language Learners

: words that are loud and aggressive

BLUSTER Defined for Kids

bluster

play

verb blus·ter \ ˈblə-stər \

Definition of bluster for Students

blustered; blustering

1 :to talk or act in a noisy boastful way

2 :to blow hard and noisily strong winds blustering

bluster

noun

Definition of bluster for Students

:noisy violent action or speech

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See words that rhyme with bluster Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for bluster Spanish Central: Translation of bluster Nglish: Translation of bluster for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bluster for Arabic speakers

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bluster

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blusterer

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bluster

Definition of bluster

blusterous

blustery

Examples of bluster in a Sentence

Recent Examples of bluster from the Web

Origin and Etymology of bluster

bluster Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

BLUSTER Defined for English Language Learners

bluster

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bluster

Definition of bluster for English Language Learners

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bluster

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