brash
Americanadjective
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impertinent; impudent; tactless.
a brash young man.
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- Synonyms:
- precipitate, foolhardy, imprudent, overhasty, reckless
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energetic or highly spirited, especially in an irreverent way; zesty.
a brash new musical.
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(used especially of wood) brittle.
adjective
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tastelessly or offensively loud, showy, or bold
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hasty; rash
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impudent
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of brash
First recorded in 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 dash 1; (adjective) in the sense “brittle” is derivative of the noun; in the sense “hasty” by confusion with rash 1
Explanation
Brash sounds like what it means: harsh, loud, and maybe a little rude. Sometimes that’s good, like when you have a serious rash on your face and give Aunt Nell a brash warning before she showers you with kisses. There's nothing warm and fuzzy about brash. New Yorkers are sometimes thought of as the poster children for brash behavior: they can be bold and brazen. Pushy even. You might find brashness offensive, or maybe you think it's refreshingly direct. If you're a cab driver, a tough exterior might be useful, but being brash probably won’t advance your career if you work in a hotel, where you’re supposed to be polite and welcoming.
Vocabulary lists containing brash
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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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.
See Examples For:
“I Want Your Sex” is his first in 12 years, marking a brash and welcome return for a key figure from the revelatory New Queer Cinema movement of the 1990s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
New shelters known as hibernacula are being created using peat, tree material and brash to provide safe overwintering areas.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The ‘paradox’ of being both a brash upstart among nations and the oldest continuous democracy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Census Designated,” Jane’s brash and dramatic 2023 coming-out LP, tipped them as a force beyond the underground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
I remember the first time I saw Captain Smith on the docks at Blackwall, how strong and brash he seemed.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
But her very existence gave a certain kind of young woman a compelling model of how to be a brasher, less apologetic, more feminist person in the world.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026
Some of the newer arrivals like Steve Biggers, a transplant from Nashville and a tea party member, brought a brasher style of politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024
But recent months have showed a shift away from the brasher campaigning.
From Reuters ● Jul. 7, 2023
The show was launched in 2002 by presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, envisioned as a brasher version of the earlier and altogether more genteel motoring programme it takes its name from.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2023
It was an institution for girls near my house, and the young ladies were faster, brasher, meaner and more prejudiced than any I had met at Lafayette County Training School.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
The planet’s brashest sport had arrived at what is putatively “The People’s House” to deliver a night of branded mayhem to the head of state, like gladiators bequeathed to an emperor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
But the brashest experiments in cut-rate flying might subside for years, given shortages of pilots, airport slots, and just about everything else they depend upon.
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
As a pro wrestler, Drew McIntyre is one of WWE's biggest and brashest villains.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
Having appeared at three Ryder Cups, where he has been one of the brashest characters on the American team, Reed’s decision could see him ineligible for selection in the future.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 11, 2022
Anglophiles may find themselves marveling at the names signposted on individual homes — names so quintessentially English that even the brashest American developer might pause before slapping them onto a new subdivision.
From New York Times ● May 1, 2018
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.
