brag

[brag]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brag ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), bragged, brag·ging.

to use boastful language; boast: He bragged endlessly about his high score.

verb (used with object), bragged, brag·ging.

to boast of: He bragged that he had won.

noun

a boast or vaunt.

a thing to boast of.

a boaster.

an old English card game similar to poker.

adjective

Archaic. unusually fine; first-rate.

Origin of brag

1350–1400; Middle English brag (noun) ostentation, arrogance, braggen (v.); of obscure origin

Related formsbrag·ging·ly, adverbbrag·less, adjectiveout·brag, verb (used with object), out·bragged, out·brag·ging.o·ver·brag, verb, o·ver·bragged, o·ver·brag·ging.un·brag·ging, adjective

Synonym study

1. See boast¹.

Antonyms for brag

2. depreciate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for brag

crow, gloat, boast, prate, exult, gasconade, grandstand, rodomontade, mouth, puff, swagger, bluster, shuck, vaunt, showboat, hotdog, jive

Examples from the Web for brag

Contemporary Examples of brag

They brag that they focus their “complete attention on executing each step of the distillation process.”
Your ‘Craft’ Rye Whiskey Is Probably From a Factory Distillery in Indiana
Eric Felten
July 28, 2014
It is an awesome thing to brag about, that you are in the same circle as Ice Cube.
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill on ‘22 Jump Street,’ Penis Kissing, and Julie Andrews’s Boobs
Kevin Fallon
June 10, 2014
Beethoven, of course, was no stranger to megalomania, and he even loved to brag to his friends about his vanity.
Japan’s Beloved Deaf Composer is Neither Deaf Nor a Composer
Jimmy So
February 13, 2014
But it appears the 5C did not have enough early hits either domestically or in China for Apple to brag about.
Apple’s New iPhones Met by Strong Demand
William O’Connor
September 23, 2013
Suddenly Harvard can brag about its 5.6 percent—or whatever it is—acceptance rate and parents get hysterical.
College Application Guru Turned Author Lacy Crawford on ‘Early Decision’
Lizzie Crocker
August 24, 2013

Historical Examples of brag

Why should we brag of being American or English, when we can boast that we are men?
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne
Think I'm so proud of this night's cruise that I'll brag of it?
The Woman-Haters
Joseph C. Lincoln
"I know that some of those who have them brag about them," said Jimmy.
Mixed Faces
Roy Norton
His brag was that he had skipped every fight since he enlisted.
War from the Inside
Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock
He's always goin' about asking every one, 'Can't they make a game o' brag?'
One Of Them
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for brag

brag

verb brags, bragging or bragged

to speak of (one's own achievements, possessions, etc) arrogantly and boastfully

noun

boastful talk or behaviour, or an instance of this

something boasted ofhis brag was his new car

a braggart; boaster

a card game: an old form of poker

Derived Formsbragger, nounbragging, noun, adjectivebraggingly, adverb

Word Origin for brag

C13: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brag

mid-14c., braggen "to make a loud sound," also "to talk boastfully," of obscure origin, perhaps related to bray of a trumpet, or related to the Middle English adjective brag "ostentatious, proud; spirited, brave" (early 14c.), which probably is from Celtic. Other sources suggest Old Norse bragr "the best, the toast (of anything)," also "poetry." Also cf. braggart for another possibility. Related: Bragged; bragging.

late 14c., "pomp; arrogance, pride;" see brag (v.); the exact relationship of the forms is uncertain. Meaning "that which is boasted" is from 1530s. As a once-popular poker-like card game, from 1734.