Word of the Day

: August 18, 2020

braggadocio

noun brag-uh-DOH-see-oh

What It Means

1 a : empty boasting

b : arrogant pretension : cockiness

2 : a person given to arrogant boasting : braggart

braggadocio in Context

"The musical numbers, all penned by Miranda, slide easily from the braggadocio of '90s rap to the lilt of Harlem jazz and beyond. Miraculously, nothing sounds excessively show-tuney." — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 30 June 2020

"It's the first time in his life that Jack has hit anyone, but there are a lot of intangibles behind it (all those fake fights and phantom punches thrown, all that idle braggadocio from stunt men between takes), and with a beginner's luck it lands just right on the side of Petty's face…." — Daniel Pyne, Twentynine Palms, 2010

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.