a suspended wreath, garland, drapery, or the like, fastened up at or near each end and hanging down in the middle; festoon.
a wreath, spray, or cluster of foliage, flowers, or fruit.
a festoon, especially one very heavy toward the center.
a swale.
a swaying or lurching movement.
to move heavily or unsteadily from side to side or up and down; sway.
to hang loosely and heavily; sink down.
to cause to sway, sink, or sag.
to hang or adorn with swags.
Slang.
Australian. a traveler's bundle containing personal belongings, cooking utensils, food, or the like.
slang property obtained by theft or other illicit means
slang goods; valuables
an ornamental festoon of fruit, flowers, or drapery or a representation of this
a swaying movement; lurch
dialect a depression filled with water, resulting from mining subsidence
informal (formerly) a swagman's pack containing personal belongings
informal to become a tramp
informal lots of
to lurch or sag or cause to lurch or sag
(tr) to adorn or arrange with swags
informal (intr) to tramp about carrying a pack of personal belongings
First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian svaga, svagga “to sway, rock”
First recorded in 1790–1800; special uses of swag 1
First recorded in 1965–70
Swag refers to valuable goods, often obtained illegally. Just because your friend has a bag of swag does not make him a pirate (although the patch and wooden leg might say otherwise). Generally meaning “loot, booty, or plunder,” swag is the stuff in the bags of excited party-goers and plunderers alike. It can also be a bundle carried by a swagman, an Australian migrant worker or drifter. From the Old Norse (re: Viking) sveggja, meaning “to swing or sway,” the verb swag can mean “to sway unsteadily or stagger.” Your bag of swag may swag from its own weight, and you too may swag just trying to carry it.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Granted, there isn’t anything during the Washington festivities quite akin to the swag bag given to Oscar nominees.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026
Meanwhile, thousands of his colleagues were lining up to buy their corporate swag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Kerr and her friend purchased a pass that cost $249 per person and included a swag bag that she never received, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
Allu Arjun hailed its "patriotism with swag", Preity Zinta called it "mind-blowing", and veteran Anupam Kher described it as "outstanding" - "a film that makes you feel deeply proud of your country".
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
“Not a disease, just like a thing, man. It’s hard to explain. Like, she’s just so cool. She got like a thing, like a swag about her.”
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
SWAG, a phrase that has become synonymous with confidence, is the group’s motto and stands for She Wants A Gentleman.
From Washington Times ● May 8, 2016
The offering makes you wonder: Is this the next generation of SWAG?
From Washington Post ● May 9, 2012
When it comes to traditional SWAG, fear not, celebrities, the pendulum hasn’t swung too far.
From Washington Post ● May 9, 2012
It's also its own cheer, as in "SWAG, SWAG, SWAG."
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2011
He said "he'd done me wery brown," and "nicely STOW'D the SWAG."
From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by Parton, James
The garden sits at the top of a steep rockery with stairs leading to an entry arbor swagged with the sweetly fragrant pink blooms of that original ‘New Dawn’.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2024
The blue-appointed restaurant at the May Company’s grand Wilshire Boulevard store was swagged in velvet curtains and lighted with enormous Italian chandeliers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2021
This image is placed in tension with an emerald green 18th-century-style backdrop, swagged to bursting with damask fruit that lends a gorgeousness, and an imprimatur of mainstream probity, to the otherwise discomfiting scene.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2019
A renewed appreciation for antiques was unleashed in the 1980s, when Washington took the lead in an “English country” decorating frenzy of carved mahogany secretaries, swagged chintz draperies, gently frayed Oriental rugs and dog paintings.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2017
The depot was swagged in red, white, and blue bunting.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
But photos in the new 60th anniversary edition of “The White House: An Historic Guide” reveal that there was a whole lot of swagging, fringing and gilding going on upstairs.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2022
I don’t think I ever really care to watch Homeland again, even if Carrie is swagging around Istanbul.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2013
In return, Dakine is swagging these bands out with beanies, backpacks, hoodies, and the like.
From Time Magazine Archive
He saw the lonely expanse of snow, the clouds swagging low, and between the two the line of dark fir-trees bowing in the wind.
From The Were-Wolf by Housman, Laurence
Towards noontide a cannon-shot blows Kellermann's horse from under him; there bursts a powder-cart high into the air, with knell heard over all: some swagging and swaying observable;—Brunswick will try!
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
