braggadocio
Americannoun
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vain empty boasting
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a person who boasts; braggart
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of braggadocio
After Braggadocchio, boastful character in Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590), apparently a pseudo-Italian coinage based on brag
Explanation
Braggadocio means not only bragging, but bragging about something that’s not true. When your friend boasts of a private yacht, ten personal servants, and nightly caviar dinners, that’s braggadocio, unless he happens to live on the French Riviera. Braggadocio comes from the word brag, but saves you the trouble of calling someone's bragging a lie by giving you one word that does both. You might say that the new guy at work who keeps telling stories about his heroic genius for fixing any computer is full of braggadocio — since when you asked him for help with yours, he had no idea what to do.
Vocabulary lists containing braggadocio
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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Least Presidential Vocabulary Used by Presidential Candidates during the GOP Debate (Sept. 16, 2015)
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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.
But the braggadocio both in terms of the AI investment cycle and Nvidia’s place at the top of it, seems to belie a greater degree of concern than the company would likely admit.
From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025
But the most likely outcome is that people will brush these warnings aside and answer them with braggadocio of the type “America is not for sale.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025
The film’s title comes from a bit of braggadocio — “I’m him” — that started sprouting up in sports leagues during the last five years.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
Over the years, Angelenos became familiar with Mr. Parker’s personal brand of braggadocio and promise, as his face could be seen on billboards across the city and on television ads.
From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2024
He looks like a rock star, but he has none of a rock star’s swagger and braggadocio and staginess.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
