boastful

adjective

boast·​ful ˈbōst-fəl 

: given to or marked by boasting : expressing excessive self-pride

a vain, boastful man

A few of the … parents are downright boastful about their sons.

—Jane Gross

… journalists who are only too willing to take at face value the boastful pronouncements of the company's publicity department.

—Jeffrey Young

At the highest levels, the administration's response to the crisis has been sluggish, characterized by boastful rhetoric but stagnant funding.

—The Washington Post

boastfully

ˈbōst-fə-lē 

adverb

If her new acquaintance wants to talk about plants, she might mention a few of her own, never boastfully, but with a pleasant tone of surprise, as if her parlor palm and the other person's had coincidentally attended the same high school.

—David Sedaris

Of the confidence reposed in him by Hudig—the master—he was boastfully and obtrusively proud.

—Joseph Conrad

boastfulness noun

Villars' military and diplomatic career under two kings of France was enormously successful, but his boastfulness and cupidity were notorious.

—David Wykes

Examples of boastful in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To self-promote without seeming boastful, write articles, share industry insights on social media, and speak at conferences to demonstrate your expertise and point of view, and position yourself as a thought leader. 5. —William Arruda, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024

Berlin Alexanderplatz presented Hofmann with a particular challenge because of its rich seam of local dialect and the boastful, big-city idiom known as Berliner Schnauze, as well as constant wordplay. —David Blackbourn, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2019

Confidently sharing achievements should not be seen as boastful but rather as asserting competence and leadership. —Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024

His bombastic style and boastful rhetoric are something people either love or hate. —Kaely Monahan, The Arizona Republic, 17 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above