brag

1 of 3

noun

1
: a pompous or boastful statement
2
: arrogant talk or manner : cockiness
3

brag

2 of 3

verb

bragged; bragging

intransitive verb

: to talk boastfully
always bragging about his success

transitive verb

: to assert boastfully
bragged that she was the faster runner on her team
bragger noun
braggy adjective

brag

3 of 3

adjective

bragger; braggest
Choose the Right Synonym for brag

boast, brag, vaunt, crow mean to express pride in oneself or one's accomplishments.

boast often suggests ostentation and exaggeration

boasts of every trivial success

, but it may imply a claiming with proper and justifiable pride.

the town boasts one of the best museums in the area

brag suggests crudity and artlessness in glorifying oneself.

bragging of their exploits

vaunt usually connotes more pomp and bombast than boast and less crudity or naïveté than brag.

vaunted his country's military might

crow usually implies exultant boasting or bragging.

crowed after winning the championship

Examples of brag in a Sentence

Noun for all his brag about diving, he actually does very little he's an irritating brag whose sense of selfhood is defined by what he owns Verb After winning the race, she couldn't stop bragging. “I don't mean to brag,” he said, “but I'm an excellent cook.” He bragged that his daughter was the best student in her class. “I'm the fastest runner on the team,” she bragged. Adjective he did a really brag job on restoring that classic car See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Freeze explained his decision with a tremendous humble brag. Kevin Scarbinsky | , al, 20 July 2023 Hugh Freeze explains a mature decision with a humble brag The days of head coaches turning over play-calling duties completely to an offensive coordinator and not monitoring those calls probably ended with the 1997 Iron Bowl. Kevin Scarbinsky | , al, 20 July 2023 People on TikTok brag about being mistaken for being underage due to their religious sunscreen application. Grace Browne, WIRED, 12 July 2023 Team DeSantis has tried to turn a stumble into a brag. Susan Page, USA TODAY, 30 May 2023 This is not a brag. Joe Ray, Wired, 3 Jan. 2021 None of this is meant as a brag. Swapna Krishna, Wired, 27 Dec. 2021 Yes, this is absolutely a humble brag. Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2020 And Olympus Mons is huge — about the size of France — a suitable brag to counter anyone's Everest stories. John Wenz, Discover Magazine, 23 Apr. 2019
Verb
The former president then bragged about his administration's record of helping Iowa farmers with ethanol, along with protecting Social Security and Medicare. Mabinty Quarshie, Washington Examiner, 21 Nov. 2023 And of course, a rivalry win is always good for bragging rights. Tim Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2023 Rosenfeld says there were other potential suspects authorities ignored—including an inmate who supposedly bragged in prison about murdering Marlene. Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2023 Earlier this week, the actress appeared on Wednesday's episode of Live with Kelly & Mark, telling hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos that her dad, Brian Williams, had been bragging about his grandparent skills. Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2023 Horry’s father, Robert, was a Lakers world championship teammate of Fisher, so that Harvard-Westlake vs. Crespi game on Jan. 10 at Crespi will have lots of bragging rights at stake. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2023 Nick’s biggest fear came true when Devin broke down in tears in front of his traditional, Korean parents and Ashley felt disrespected when Manuel bragged about their massive arguments to a new therapist. Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 13 Nov. 2023 One of its streets is called Paradise Drive; local fishermen brag that Pacifica Pier is among the state’s best places to catch salmon, striped bass, and crab. Daniel A. Gross, The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2023 Visitors come primarily for bragging rights; stamps—both passport and postage—are one of the island’s top draws. Scott Laird, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Nov. 2023
Adjective
The benefits of a brag book Part of growing your salary comes with asking for a raise, which Tu believes most workers aren’t asking for often enough. Jane Thier, Fortune, 6 Dec. 2022 Now, after the latest iteration of Kellyoke on the Kelly Clarkson Show, the host can add performing the knockout collaboration live alongside the country icon herself to her list of brag-worthy accomplishments. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2022 This will also give you a brag bank to pull from when the interviewer asks you to articulate your strengths. Dominique Law, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2021 The Wild Insulated Water Bottle Allow us to humble-brag about The Wild water bottle with the cool logo of the L.A. Times newsletter about the outdoors in Southern California. Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2021 Extremely familiar forays into bass-heavy brag rap, whooshing R&B, and Afrobeats break up the slog. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2021 Lays down brag-worthy numbers, draws every eye, amazing value. K.c. Colwell, Car and Driver, 2 Sep. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, "ostentation, presumption," perhaps noun derivative of earlier brag, "ostentatious, spirited," of obscure origin

Verb

Middle English braggen, noun derivative of brag brag entry 1

Adjective

probably adjectival derivative of brag entry 1 or brag entry 2

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Adjective

1836, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of brag was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near brag

Cite this Entry

“Brag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brag. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

brag

1 of 2 noun
1
: a boastful statement
2
: overly proud talk or manner
3

brag

2 of 2 verb
bragged; bragging
: to praise oneself or one's possessions or achievements
bragger noun

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