brag
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a boast or vaunt.
-
a thing to boast of.
-
a boaster.
-
an old English card game similar to poker.
adjective
verb
noun
-
boastful talk or behaviour, or an instance of this
-
something boasted of
his brag was his new car
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a braggart; boaster
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a card game: an old form of poker
Synonym Usage
See boast 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bragsimple
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bragssimple
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have braggedperfect
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has braggedperfect
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am braggingprogressive
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are braggingprogressive
-
is braggingprogressive
-
have been braggingperfect progressive
-
has been braggingperfect progressive
Past
-
braggedsimple
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had braggedperfect
-
was braggingprogressive
-
were braggingprogressive
-
had been braggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brag
1350–1400; Middle English brag (noun) ostentation, arrogance, braggen (v.); of obscure origin
Explanation
When you're bragging, you're boasting. If you can't stop talking about your fancy new shoes, that's bragging. Ever notice how some people are full of themselves and constantly telling you about the great things they've done? Those folks like to brag. Bragging is a verbal kind of showing off. We all do it sometimes, and it's almost always annoying when other people do it. A specific boast can be called a brag. Athletes often brag before big games. But only the winners can brag after, because they backed up their words.
Vocabulary lists containing brag
Sonnet 18
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"My Superpowers"
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The Lions of Little Rock
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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.
I feel bad about all this, but I have made a commitment to brag, so I have to see how these snafus reflect positively on me.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
Your column, appropriately so for its purpose, focuses heavily on financial literacy, and some of your writers brag about how savvy they are.
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
The Justice Department’s announcement came with a brag: They are “pursuing the highest volume of denaturalization referrals in history.”
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
If you have drawn him in the sweepstake, you have a Pair rather than a Prial, which is the highest hand in three card brag.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
“Purveyors of prestigious names from history for wealthy idiots who want to brag at their cocktail parties, ‘Oh, yes, my little Henry comes from a line of British kings.’
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
