bronco
Americannoun
plural
broncosnoun
Etymology
Origin of bronco
An Americanism first recorded in 1865–70; from Mexican Spanish, short for Spanish potro bronco “untamed colt” (in Mexican Spanish: “wild horse, half-tamed horse”); bronco, was apparently a nasalized variant of the Latin adjective broccus “projecting”; see origin at broach
Explanation
A bronco is a horse that has a tendency to buck, or kick out its rear legs, especially when someone tries to ride it. Broncos make ideal rodeo horses. In Spanish, bronco means "rough," from a root defined as "a knot in wood." The word was adopted into cowboy jargon as a name for rough, or half-wild, horses that are very challenging to ride. The rodeo events that feature riders trying to stay on bucking broncos are known as "roughstock." Broncos were originally wild mustangs, but today most are specially bred to buck. The image of a cowboy riding a bronco is Wyoming's official state symbol.
Vocabulary lists containing bronco
The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Spring
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Novel Study: The Lightning Thief, Chapters 10–22
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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.
Straddling a bookies' tip to be the next James Bond like a bucking bronco is certainly one way to grab people's attention.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
Once, Worthington rode Shamu the SeaWorld orca like a bronco.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2023
The 45-minute bucking bronco of a ride down the rim ended at a marsh, where we ate a tasty boxed lunch of mustard-ginger chicken stew.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2023
“Just look at the record of what’s happened to former speakers and former majority leaders. It’s pretty hard to ride that bucking bronco longer than about six or seven years.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 16, 2022
He galloped around the table like he was riding an invisible bronco, waving his plastic debit card over his head and making whooping sounds.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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.
