thrasonical

American  

[threy-son-i-kuhl] / θreɪˈsɒn ɪ kəl /

adjective

1. boastful; vainglorious.

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thrasonical British  

/ θrəˈsɒnɪkəl /

adjective

1. rare bragging; boastful

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Other Word Forms

• thrasonically adverb

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

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

What Junker-led men could do they have since done to make that thrasonical brag good.

From New York Times, Current History, Vol 1, Issue 1 From the Beginning to March, 1915 With Index by Various

All that he believed was that this was merely an expression of Buckingham's fanfaronading, thrasonical disposition, a form of vain, empty boasting peculiar to megalomaniacs.

From The Historical Nights' Entertainment Second Series by Sabatini, Rafael

This will not be found, I think, too lofty, or too thrasonical an estimate of what has been attempted.

From Studies in Literature by Morley, John

Unlike the ordinary soldier of fortune, he was not in the least thrasonical.

From The Dictator by McCarthy, Justin