bravado

[bruh-vah-doh]

noun

plural

bravadoes, bravados 

1. a pretentious, swaggering display of courage.

   Synonyms: braggadocio, bombast, bluster, brag

bravado

/ brəˈvɑːdəʊ /

noun

1. vaunted display of courage or self-confidence; swagger

Other Word Forms

• overbravado noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bravado¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Spanish bravada (now bravata, from Italian ), equivalent to brav(o) “brave” + -ada noun suffix; brave, -ade ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bravado¹

C16: from Spanish bravada (modern bravata ), from Old Italian bravare to challenge, provoke, from bravo wild, _brave

Synonym Study

See courage.

Example Sentences

His intellectual bravado has always attracted disciples and acolytes, notably his cultlike following at Cambridge, where he taught in the 1930s and ’40s.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This bit of bravado quickly falters when MacGruber finds his name on nearly every page.

Read more on Salon

For all that bravado, though, Wang was unable to keep pace with rivals such as Apple and Dell, which provided ever-improving word processors and a whole lot more.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Clooney has never had a better role, and he burrows deeply into it with a self-interrogating combination of narcissism, foolishness, bravado and charisma.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His confession strips away any rock-star bravado as he admits that he's "quite terrified of women and their power and I've just never been that comfortable around them".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• bluster