thrasonical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of thrasonical
1555–65; < Latin Thrasōn- (stem of Thrasō, braggart in Terence's Eunuchus ) + -ical
Explanation
Do you know a thrasonical person, someone who's always bragging, acting superior, or making exaggerated claims? If so, you've probably discovered that being thrasonical is a real turn-off! Thrasonical comes from Thraso, the name of a character in a comedy called The Eunuch, written by a Roman playwright in the 2nd century BCE. In the play, Thraso is a rich, arrogant army officer who boasts and brags to impress a woman. Apparently the play was very successful, but it wasn't entirely original: The playwright, Terence, borrowed the basic story and characters from an earlier Greek play written by Menander. Feel free to impress people by using the fancy word thrasonical and telling the story about its origins — but try not to act in a thrasonical manner when you do so!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Novi hominem tanquam te" quoth he;—"his humor is lofty; his discourse peremptory; his tongue filed; his eye ambitious; his gait majestical; and his general behavior vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858 by Various
How wonderfully popular these thrasonical wild-beast tamers and prancing proconsul sort of fellows are—with the gallery!
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 105, November 18, 1893 by Various
His "thrasonical boast" was sober truth, and he stands above military or literary criticism, a lesson and a model.
From The Life of Froude by Herbert W. (Herbert Woodfield) Paul
With this thrasonical challenge the pirates set sail for Otoque, another of the islands in the bay; for Taboga, though it was "an exceeding pleasant island," was by this time bare of meat.
From On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. by John Masefield
The teachers and pupils are too genuine ever to become thrasonical, and no teacher or pupil is ever heard to boast of anything pertaining to the school.
From The Vitalized School by Francis B. Pearson
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.
