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bratty

[ brat-ee ]

adjective

, brat·ti·er, brat·ti·est.
  1. characteristic of or resembling a brat; impudent; ill-mannered:

    bratty remarks; bratty tricks.



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Word History and Origins

Origin of bratty1

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Example Sentences

At best, if the stories are true, you sound petulant, cosseted, and bratty.

The film opens with her bratty brother spying on her with binoculars as she suntans on a beach.

Or perhaps poor Bratty was despatched with the carving-knife.

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More About Bratty

What does bratty mean?

Bratty describes someone or something considered to be ill-mannered, rude, impolite, or overly irritatingly.

The term is often used to be hurtful or judgemental of the one being labeled bratty. The person using the term usually disapproves of someone’s actions, whether or not those actions are breaking social conventions.

While children are most often the ones labeled as brats and being bratty, adults and animals can also be labeled as brats and being bratty. You might even hear objects, such as a computer or a car, being called bratty when it isn’t working as expected. Brattiness is sometimes associated with rebellion or indecency, particularly in regards to children. 

Sometimes, you’ll hear someone call themselves bratty to make fun of themselves or to apologize for something they did.

 Example: My bratty computer keeps shutting down for no reason!

Where does bratty come from?

The first records of the term bratty come from around the 1960s. It’s an American colloquialism that combines the term brat, meaning “an annoying, spoiled child,” and the suffix -y, meaning “characterized or inclined to.” Bratty, then, means inclined to be like a spoiled child.

Like bratty, brat is usually used with scorn or irritation toward a child or an adult the user thinks is acting childishly. However, it formerly implied that the person was unimportant or poor, as in beggar’s brat. In this sense, brat might not be intended as an insult, though likely the person being called a brat would consider it one.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to bratty?

  • brattiness (noun)

What are some synonyms for bratty?

What are some words that share a root or word element with bratty

What are some words that often get used in discussing bratty?

How is bratty used in real life?

Bratty is used to judge someone (or something) that isn’t behaving the way the user thinks they should. It can be used to describe oneself, as well.

 

Try using bratty!

Is bratty used correctly in the following sentence?

“Whenever our dog barks at the mail carrier, my dad tells him to stop acting bratty.”

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