braggadocio

American  

[brag-uh-doh-shee-oh] / ˌbræg əˈdoʊ ʃiˌoʊ /

noun

braggadocios plural

1. empty boasting; bragging.

2. a boasting person; braggart.

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braggadocio British  

/ ˌbræɡəˈdəʊtʃɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. vain empty boasting

2. a person who boasts; braggart

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• braggadocian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• braggadocios
  plural

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.