brat
Americannoun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of brat
First recorded in 1500–20; perhaps transferred use of Middle English brat “cloak of coarse cloth, rag,” Old English bratt “cloak,” from Celtic; compare Irish brat “mantle, cloak”
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.
Born Robert Selden Duvall in January 1931 in San Diego, California, Duvall was a self-proclaimed "navy brat" due to his father's life-long career in the United States Navy.
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
"The Moment" satirises the consequences of her hit 2024 album "brat", as rapacious record company executives and a film director played by Alexander Skarsgard seek to jump on the juggernaut.
From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026
Every holiday season, my mom likes to remind me of how much of a brat I could be during Christmastime when I was a kid.
From Salon • Dec. 3, 2025
Freddie isn’t merely the petulant brat of the first Broadway production, but suffering from bipolar disorder.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
“What do you think he is, some kind of radical rinky-dink reporter? He’s drawing a decent weekly salary from Halversson; he’s got a wife, a brat, a mortgage, and a ’71 Oldsmobile on time.”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
