braggadocio

noun

brag·​ga·​do·​cio ˌbra-gə-ˈdō-sē-ˌō 

-shē-, 

-chē-, 

-(ˌ)shō, 

-(ˌ)chō

plural braggadocios

1

a

: empty boasting

… doubts about his creative activities beset him from time to time and, paradoxically, led to frequent outbursts of braggadocio.

—Bernard Denvir

b

: arrogant pretension : cockiness

… the air of swaggering braggadocio that all important men are expected to show in fighting …

—C. W. M. Hart

2

: braggart

an obnoxious braggadocio

Did you know?

Though Braggadocio is not as well-known as other fictional characters like Pollyanna, the Grinch, or Scrooge, in lexicography he holds a special place next to them as one of the many characters whose name has become an established word in English. The English poet Edmund Spenser originally created Braggadocio as a personification of boasting in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. As early as 1594, about four years after the poem was published, English speakers began using the name as a general term for any blustering blowhard. The now more common use of braggadocio, referring to the talk or behavior of such windy cockalorums, developed in the early 18th century.

Synonyms of braggadocio

• rhetoric
• brag
• bombast
• grandiloquence
• chatter
• bluster
• magniloquence
• rodomontade

Examples of braggadocio in a Sentence

a loudmouthed braggart who hid his cowardice with braggadocio

his braggadocio hid the fact that he felt personally inadequate

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump’s braggadocio State of the Union message about our surging economy and his compassionate ICE raids was the icing on the Circassian cake. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026

Sure enough, Son did indeed suffer another precipitous fall, though today is once again brimming with braggadocio. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 24 Feb. 2026

The distortions of segregation in the South in the forties left their mark, to be sure, but behind his tropism for the limelight, underneath all the braggadocio that is mistaken for arrogance, lies Jesse Louis Jackson's greatest longing in life—the lust for legitimacy. —Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026

Timmy’s Marty promotional tour was loud and brash — viral Zoom videos, Soulja Boy routines in Brazil, standing atop the Sphere in Las Vegas — and had a lot of people wondering if his decision to adopt a Marty Mauser-style braggadocio would ultimately hurt his chances to win over Oscar voters. —Vulture Editors, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Braggadochio, personification of boasting in Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for braggadocio

• adagio
• altiplano
• arapaho
• arapahoe
• manifesto
• medicago
• minangkabau
• oregano
• ostinato
• pistachio
• politico
• portfolio

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Kids Definition

braggadocio

noun

brag·​ga·​do·​cio ˌbrag-ə-ˈdō-shē-ˌō 

-sē-ˌō, 

-shō

plural braggadocios

1

: braggart

2

: loud and empty boasting

Etymology

from Braggadochio, a boasting character in literature