Word of the Day
: December 8, 2025bravado
playWhat It Means
Bravado refers to confident or brave talk or behavior that is intended to impress other people.
// She tells the stories of her youthful exploits with enough bravado to invite suspicion that they're embellished a bit.
// The crew of climbers scaled the mountain with youthful bravado.
bravado in Context
"One problem that exists in the whitewater community overall is that people don't always understand the basic elements associated with water and their ignorance and bravado often lead to an incident where someone gets injured or killed." — Tracy Hines, The Durango (Colorado) Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
Did You Know?
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 from being in a position of power. The word bravado originally comes from the Italian adjective bravo, meaning "wild" or "courageous," which English can also thank for the more common brave.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Test Your Vocabulary
Rearrange the letters to form a word that can refer to bold or brash self-confidence: GWASREG
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