brag
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a boast or vaunt.
-
a thing to boast of.
-
a boaster.
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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
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is braggingprogressive
-
have been braggingperfect progressive
-
has been braggingperfect progressive
Past
-
braggedsimple
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had braggedperfect
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was braggingprogressive
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were braggingprogressive
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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.
Gordon Elliott's team will be led by Three Card Brag, the mount of Sean Bowen, who is on the verge of becoming British champion jockey despite being allergic to horse hair.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2025
Brag about how much better your barbecue is than anyone else’s.
From Washington Post • Sep. 25, 2018
“It’s kind of bridging the gap between traditional TV and digital media,” Brag tells The Verge.
From The Verge • Sep. 25, 2018
Regular features like Humble Brag of the Week sit sweetly next to Robins’s sweaty-palmed obsession with Queen/Zappa.
From The Guardian • Jun. 30, 2018
Brag, brag, v.i. to boast or bluster:—pr.p. brag′ging; pa.p. bragged.—n. a boast or boasting: the thing boasted of: a game at cards, very like poker.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
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.
