boaster
1 Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does boaster mean? A boaster is someone who is known for boasting—bragging, especially in a way that exaggerates or shows excessive pride about the boaster’s skills, possessions, or accomplishments. The word boast can also be used as a noun to refer to such a claim, as in He was a boaster who was known for his outrageous boasts—like about how he once rode a shark. Boasters most often boast about themselves—their skills, their possessions, or the things that they have accomplished—but a boaster can also boast about someone else. A parent might be called a boaster because they constantly boast about their child’s accomplishments, for example. A boaster can be described as boastful. Example: Don’t be such a boaster—try to have a little humility.
Etymology
Origin of boaster1
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at boast 1, -er 1
Origin of boaster2
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.
He was not a boaster, but it was clear from his pictures—of war, of conflict, of civil unrest—that he was brave.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 8, 2019
When considering the virtue of truthfulness and its opposite, mendaciousness, Aristotle identified two common kinds of lying characters: the boaster and the flatterer.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2018
Turns out the closeness, once highly anticipated, was now suffocating because the friend was a nonstop talker, boaster, and one-upper.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2014
Yeah, whether it’s Richard Sherman or someone else, we love the big boast, even if the end game is invariably to tsk-tsk the boaster for having the temerity to speak his mind.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2014
He was a quiet fellow, reserved and proud, conscious of his strength and superior skill with a rifle, but no boaster.
From The Warden of the Plains and Other Stories of Life in the Canadian North-west by John Maclean
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.
