braver; bravest
1
: having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : having or showing courage
a brave soldier
a brave smile
2
: making a fine show : colorful
brave banners flying in the wind
bravely
adverb
braved; braving
1
: to face or endure with courage
braved the rush-hour traffic to get there
braving the elements
2
obsolete
: to make showy
archaic
: to show courage : to make a brave show
braver
noun
1
[in part borrowed from French, noun derivative of brave brave entry 1]
: one with mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : one who is brave (see brave entry 1)
… none but the brave deserves the fair.—
John Dryden
John Dryden
specifically
: an American Indian warrior
2
archaic
: bravado
Examples of brave in a Sentence
Adjective
She gave us a brave smile.
He lost his brave fight against the disease.
Verb
Thousands of fans braved rush-hour traffic to see the concert.
a soldier who braved enemy fire to rescue her wounded comrade
Recent Examples on the Web
Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2025
Bloom’s bravest moment of June 16, 1904, comes a few pages later:
—Mendelssohn was a jew and Karl Marx and Mercadante and Spinoza.
—Benjamin Hale
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
Solcyré Burga, Time, 24 June 2025
McCreight, 37, joined about 200 others who braved the Saturday afternoon heat to protest the court’s decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti.
—Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Still, Marler braves on; he’s got his team to watch.
—Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 1 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for brave
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
Sure enough, the seemingly eternally brave Achilles was killed by an arrow to his heel during the Trojan War.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2025
Bloom’s bravest moment of June 16, 1904, comes a few pages later:
—Mendelssohn was a jew and Karl Marx and Mercadante and Spinoza.
—Benjamin Hale
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
Verb
New Yorkers are braving the heat to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary election, which is set to be a nail-biter between Democratic Socialist state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
—Solcyré Burga, Time, 24 June 2025
McCreight, 37, joined about 200 others who braved the Saturday afternoon heat to protest the court’s decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti.
—Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
Noun
Shoshone chief Winter Bird (Irene Bedard) is a pacifist dealing with young braves too eager to fight.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Still, Marler braves on; he’s got his team to watch.
—Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 1 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for brave
Cite this Entry
“Brave.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brave. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
brave
1 of 3 adjective1
: feeling or displaying no fear : courageous
2
: making a fine show : splendid
brave banners flying in the wind
bravely
adverb
brave
2 of 3 verb
braved; braving
: to face or bear with courage
pioneers who braved the dangers of the frontier
brave
3 of 3 noun
: one who is brave
especially
: a warrior of an Indigenous people of North America
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share