bravado
noun
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Displays of bravado may be show-offish, daring, reckless, and inconsistent with good sense—take, for example, the spectacular feats of stuntpeople—but when successful they are still likely to be met with shouts of "bravo!" Celebrities, political leaders, corporate giants, and schoolyard bullies, however, may show a different flavor of bravado: one that suggests an overbearing boldness that comes from arrogance or a position of power. The word bravado originally comes from the Old Italian adjective bravo, meaning "wild" or "courageous," which English has also to thank for the more ubiquitous brave.
Examples of bravado in a Sentence
Taylor Wilson, USA Today, 2 July 2025
Imagine male leaders modeling emotional honesty instead of bravado.
—Shelley Zalis, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
There’s always been that bravado there, and more often than not, the bravado works in his favor.
—Jim Calhoun With Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 June 2025
Roca’s maneuvers have both a theatrical elegance and a fearsome daring; his bravado is refined by his bravery, his defiant gaze challenging not just the bull but death itself.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 24 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bravado
Cite this Entry
“Bravado.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bravado. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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bravado
noun
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