Definition of SWAGGER

Synonyms for swagger

Synonyms: Verb

Examples of swagger in a Sentence

Verb

He copped a plea, ratted out a dozen no-neck pals and swaggered off to prison, leaving South Beach temporarily without a pied piper. — Carl Hiaasen, New York Times Book Review, 22 Feb. 2009 So it is a fight rather than an argument, really—a fight over complexity versus ease, a fight that mostly mimics gang war, which is not so much a vigorous instance of manly bloodletting (though it is that too) as a dustup over prestige: who has the prior right to swagger in public. — Cynthia Ozick, Harper's, April 2007 Sometimes he sauntered through the streets of the old town. He looked with awe at the students of the corps, their cheeks gashed and red, who swaggered about in their coloured caps. — W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, 1915 I, too, would swagger if I'd won first place in the bowling tournament. hoping to impress the women at the bar, the young man confidently swaggered across the room

Noun

He limps with a noticeable swagger, flamboyantly waving his cane, semi-ironically mimicking the rap stars who are now his peers. — Matt Diehl, Spin, September 2008 He greeted me with the swagger he's learned since he became a fighter pilot, smiling, his blue eyes glowing. — Matthew Klam, Harper's, February 1999 What a hero Tom was become, now! He did not go skipping and prancing, but moved with a dignified swagger as became a pirate who felt that the public eye was on him. — Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876 He has a swagger that annoys some of his teammates.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

That looks prescient now, with swaggering space barons like Elon Musk... — Tom Shippey, WSJ, "Science Fiction: The New Off-World Economy," 17 May 2019 There are other schools in other states that don’t have [to contend with] a charismatic, swaggering CEO, so the dynamic is very different. — Sean Illing, Vox, "How corporate cash bought higher education," 14 Nov. 2018 The most sexed-up take on the look saw one guy swaggering down the runway like a cheeky gunslinger. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Are You Ready for the Return of Tighty-Whities? Gucci Sure Is," 25 Sep. 2018 The whole craze started back in May 2016, when a high school senior named Michael Senatore swaggered onto a stage and successfully flipped and landed a water bottle on a table during his school's annual talent show. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Physics holds the key to performing the flipping water bottle trick," 8 Oct. 2018 Long a swaggering force, these conservatives now tiptoe on social media outlets like Twitter. — Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, "Saudi Arabia’s once-powerful conservatives silenced by reforms and repression," 5 June 2018 Mexico is part of a select group that includes only host nation Russia, France and Belgium, in going 2-0-0 and possessing the kind of swaggering confidence that comes with that. — Martin Rogers, USA TODAY, "After handling South Korea, swaggering Mexico has legitimate shot to win World Cup," 23 June 2018 America — the nation, ironically, that seemed to care the least about soccer — had swaggered in like some Old West lawman and done something nobody else could: clean up the beautiful game. — Ken Bensinger, chicagotribune.com, "If the U.S. doesn't get the 2026 World Cup, blame Donald Trump," 12 June 2018 Where that holiday-week concert at Saint Andrew’s had a cozy family vibe, Tuesday’s show swaggered with the feel of a big-time event. — Brian Mccollum, Detroit Free Press, "Greta Van Fleet nails the high notes at Fillmore Detroit in homecoming kickoff," 23 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Hurts came in with the swagger of somebody who was the best offensive player in the conference. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The Unlikely Hero Who Saved Alabama’s Season," 1 Dec. 2018 Enter stadium left then Spurr’s latest venture, a shoe label called March NYC, which has all the good old-fashioned swagger of a rock goddess or axe hero tuning up to play the greatest hits; think one part Debbie Harry, one part Jimi Hendrix. — Mark Holgate, Vogue, "Simon Spurr’s New Shoe Label March NYC Is So Rock ’n’ Roll It Should Be on Tour," 2 Nov. 2018 Into this unfamiliar territory stepped a fresh, exciting England team, one stripped of the unwarranted swagger of its predecessors and coached by a fundamentally decent, approachable man. — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Croatia Digs Deeper, Burying England’s World Cup Dreams," 12 July 2018 With the swagger of a movie star, aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker can smile for a photo while flying his red-orange Oracle biplane sideways. — Emily Williams, BostonGlobe.com, "Carving among the clouds," 7 June 2018 At worst, especially with the high-profile director swap of Chris Miller and Phil Lord for Ron Howard last June, the worry was that the film could diminish some of the swagger of Harrison Ford's iconic character. — Chris Thilk, The Hollywood Reporter, "How Disney's 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Marketing Battled Franchise Saturation," 23 May 2018 Her Mueller had been a terrific send-up of the swagger and poise some Americans have about the implications ofhis investigation. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Saturday Night Live," 12 Mar. 2018 But as the record shows, the Zips now have some late-season swagger, even building a little trash-talking reputation to go with it. — Elton Alexander, cleveland.com, "MAC Tournament 2018: Men's quarterfinals offer upset chances (video)," 8 Mar. 2018 Someone who probably is a starter or first guy off the bench who can bring some swagger and a winning attitude. — Scott Bordow, azcentral, "Phoenix Suns Managing General Partner Robert Sarver says team needs swagger, winning attitude," 6 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swagger.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.