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brash

[brash]
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adjective, brash·er, brash·est. Also brashy.
  1. impertinent; impudent; tactless: a brash young man.
  2. hasty; rash; impetuous.
  3. energetic or highly spirited, especially in an irreverent way; zesty: a brash new musical.
  4. (used especially of wood) brittle.
noun
  1. a pile or stack of loose fragments or debris, as of rocks or hedge clippings.
  2. brash ice.
  3. Pathology. heartburn(def 1).
  4. Scot. and North England Dialect.
    1. a sudden shower or burst of rain.
    2. any sudden, minor sickness or indisposition, especially of the digestive tract.
    3. an assault; attack.

Origin of brash

1400–50; (noun) late Middle English brass(c)he a slap, crash, perhaps blend of brok(e) (Old English broc breach, fragment, sickness; akin to break) and dasch smashing blow; see dash1; (adj.) in sense “brittle,” derivative of noun; in sense “hasty” by confusion with rash1
Related formsbrash·ly, adverbbrash·ness, noun

Synonyms

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2. reckless, overhasty, imprudent, foolhardy, precipitate.

Antonyms

2. cautious, wary, prudent, careful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for brash

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • It should always be a dry, sound stick, brash, but not in the least punky.

    Boy Scouts Handbook

    Boy Scouts of America

  • If this brash young Ranger wanted a fight he could have it on the jump.

    Oh, You Tex!

    William Macleod Raine

  • On the other hand, could I renig on the job after all that brash line of talk I'd given Vee?

    Torchy As A Pa

    Sewell Ford

  • A little later we were not brash enough to know anything where he was concerned.

    Lost Face

    Jack London

  • You don't know what a bad impression you make when you're too brash.

    The Trail of the Hawk

    Sinclair Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for brash

brash1

adjective
  1. tastelessly or offensively loud, showy, or bold
  2. hasty; rash
  3. impudent
Derived Formsbrashly, adverbbrashness, noun

Word Origin

C19: perhaps influenced by rash 1

brash2

noun
  1. loose rubbish, such as broken rock, hedge clippings, etc; debris

Word Origin

C18: of unknown origin

brash3

noun
  1. pathol another name for heartburn

Word Origin

C16: perhaps of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brash

adj.

1824, of obscure origin, originally American English; perhaps akin to 16c. Scottish brash "attack, assault," or French breche "fragments," especially of ice, from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German brehha "breach," from brehhan "to break"), or to German brechen "to vomit."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper