vaunt 1 of 2

vaunt

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word vaunt distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of vaunt are boast, brag, and crow. While all these words mean "to express pride in oneself or one's accomplishments," vaunt usually connotes more pomp and bombast than boast and less crudity or naïveté than brag.

vaunted his country's military might

In what contexts can boast take the place of vaunt?

The words boast and vaunt are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, boast often suggests ostentation and exaggeration, but it may imply a claiming with proper and justifiable pride.

boasts of every trivial success
the town boasts one of the best museums in the area

When could brag be used to replace vaunt?

Although the words brag and vaunt have much in common, brag suggests crudity and artlessness in glorifying oneself.

bragging of their exploits

When is it sensible to use crow instead of vaunt?

The synonyms crow and vaunt are sometimes interchangeable, but crow usually implies exultant boasting or bragging.

crowed after winning the championship

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of vaunt
Verb
The vaunting acclaim the retrospective elicited seems largely unwarranted, though in several brilliant sequences scattered throughout his work, the unruly Rozier achieved an impulsive kind of mastery. James Quandt, The New York Review of Books, 31 July 2025 Kardashian had been vaunting it to her with more than 300 million followers on Instagram. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 29 Apr. 2025 Putin has vaunted the potential of its critical minerals for a deal between Moscow and Washington as its push for Ukraine's resources founders, following the White House spat between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025 And having a candle in your house symbolizes that vaunted L.A. optimism. Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vaunt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vaunt
Verb
  • Only last year, Maduro boasted about the results of those reforms, claiming his country’s GDP was growing at 8% and that inflation was at the lowest rate in four decades.
    Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Despite boasting one of the highest payrolls in baseball, New York failed to reach the postseason, closing out the regular season with an 83-79 record.
    Shaun McAvoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • For now, Hawks fans can just enjoy a team that’s playing well, and doing it with a non-zero amount of swagger.
    Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Crichlow contrasts Adams’s pathological swagger with an air of paternal angst.
    Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Every Democrat had something to brag about after Tuesday’s elections, but few were more invested than Shapiro or Newsom, whose redistricting ballot measure coasted to passage on Tuesday.
    David Weigel, semafor.com, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Clark said the lighting only enhances an atmosphere he’s bragged about for years.
    Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • By incorporating a character unable to do anything but cry and coo, the show only highlights its disinterest in more nuanced examinations of human behavior, such as greed or egotism.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 27 June 2025
  • After his death the day after Easter at age 88, Francis was hailed for pushing Catholics and others to forsake egotism and materialism in favor of a kinder, more tolerant world focused above all on the marginalized.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
Noun
  • The original 1877 building has grown not just to house the museum’s burgeoning collections and encompass its expanding role as an educator, entertainer and research institution, but to project an evolving sense of science’s self-conceit.
    Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
Noun
  • The show brought blockbuster buzz for its first season from the start and the Emmys ate it up, whether because of Hollywood’s love for stories about itself (with A-list guest stars) or the television industry’s love for stories that mock the self-importance of movie people.
    Andrew Dalton, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2025
  • We’d sometimes get threatened, and that only inflated our self-importance.
    Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Trump prattles on about the economy while the actors freeze behind him in their ancient Galilee garb.
    Rosa Escandon, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
  • She was getting winded on our walk, and her prattle was broken up by heavy breaths.
    Joshua Cohen, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • Now the babble about them is back.
    DP Opinion, Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Mesopotamian corpses, stirred by the babble of trade, wander the halls wrapped in shrouds of extravagant malice.
    David Velasco, Harpers Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023

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Cite this Entry

“Vaunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vaunt. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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