bodacious
adjective
Did you know?
Some of our readers may know bodacious as a word that figured prominently in the lingo of the 1989 film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Others may recall the term's frequent use in the long-running "Snuffy Smith" comic strip. Neither the creators of the comic strip nor the movie can claim to have coined bodacious, which began appearing in print in the mid-1800s, but both surely contributed to its popularity. The exact origin of the word is uncertain, but it is most likely a blend of bold and audacious, and it may be linked to boldacious, a now-rare British dialect term meaning "brazen" or "impudent."
Examples of bodacious in a Sentence
Lina Lecaro, HollywoodReporter, 16 Aug. 2025
Her measurements are bodacious — 61 feet tall, 64 feet wide, 74 feet long.
—Kansas City Star, 6 Aug. 2025
Large mitts for hands, and a legendary derrière—a seat that assists in hours of squatting, a professional occupation, and in hitting bodacious home runs.
—Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
If the 2010s were all about the bodacious curves of the coupe and the chalice-like Nick & Nora, the martini glass of the moment is—drumroll, please—a classic martini glass.
—Amiel Stanek, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bodacious
Cite this Entry
“Bodacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bodacious. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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