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Synonyms

brash

American  
[brash] / bræʃ /

adjective

brasher, brashest

  1. impertinent; impudent; tactless.

    a brash young man.

  2. hasty; rash; impetuous.

    Synonyms:
    precipitate, foolhardy, imprudent, overhasty, reckless
    Antonyms:
    careful, prudent, wary, cautious

  3. energetic or highly spirited, especially in an irreverent way; zesty.

    a brash new musical.

  4. (used especially of wood) brittle.

noun

  1. a pile or stack of loose fragments or debris, as of rocks or hedge clippings.

  2. brash ice.

  3. Pathology. heartburn.

  4. Scot. and North England Dialect.

    1. a sudden shower or burst of rain.

    2. any sudden, minor sickness or indisposition, especially of the digestive tract.

    3. an assault; attack.

brash 1 British  
/ bræʃ /

adjective

  1. tastelessly or offensively loud, showy, or bold

  2. hasty; rash

  3. impudent

"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
brash 2 British  
/ bræʃ /

noun

  1. loose rubbish, such as broken rock, hedge clippings, etc; debris

"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
brash 3 British  
/ bræʃ /

noun

  1. pathol another name for heartburn

"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

Other Word Forms

  • brashly adverb
  • brashness noun

Etymology

Origin of brash

First recorded in 1400–50; (noun) late Middle English brass(c)he “a slap, crash,” perhaps blend of brok(e) ( Old English broc “breach, fragment, sickness”; akin to break ) and dasch “smashing blow”; dash 1; (adjective) in the sense “brittle” is derivative of the noun; in the sense “hasty” by confusion with rash 1

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.

She would just be free and wear glitter on her face and have feathers in her hair and her music was very unapologetically brash and tongue-in-cheek with the lyrics.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

As in Rick Pitino, that swaggy, sharp-suited, knocked-around coach everyone has an opinion on, reborn at 73 in New York, New York, always his kind of brash, hate-ya-til-we-love-ya town.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

“Days of Ash” is bright and brash and loud.

From Salon • Mar. 10, 2026

Is he really a brash celebrity who dates reality TV stars, or a humble and serious actor?

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

The most brash of peoples was seized by despair, fatalism, and fear.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

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.