brat
Americannoun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
- brattish adjective
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
What's a megastar to do when she has defined an entire summer, produced a multi-million-selling album and even persuaded the dictionary eggheads to declare "brat" a word of the year?
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 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
“Then what was this little brat doing with a greyhound in your grove? A greyhound with a white coat and a copper blaze on its nose? Is that not your holy dog?”
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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.
