swagger
Americanverb (used without object)
-
swaggers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swaggered,
past participle, past
-
swaggering
present participle
-
to walk or strut with a defiant or insolent air.
-
to boast or brag noisily.
verb (used with object)
-
swaggers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swaggered,
past participle, past
-
swaggering
present participle
noun
-
swaggers
plural
verb
-
(intr) to walk or behave in an arrogant manner
-
to brag loudly
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rare (tr) to force, influence, etc, by blustering
noun
adjective
noun
Synonym Usage
See strut 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swaggersimple
-
swaggerssimple
-
have swaggeredperfect
-
has swaggeredperfect
-
am swaggeringprogressive
-
are swaggeringprogressive
-
is swaggeringprogressive
-
have been swaggeringperfect progressive
-
has been swaggeringperfect progressive
Past
-
swaggeredsimple
-
had swaggeredperfect
-
was swaggeringprogressive
-
were swaggeringprogressive
-
had been swaggeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swagger
Explanation
Picture the confident, maybe even arrogant way a pirate, a cowboy, or even a rapper might stroll around. That style of walking is called a swagger. Swagger can also be used as a verb. After you ace a test you might swagger down the hall feeling pretty full of yourself. In verb form it can also refer to more aggressive behavior like bullying or intimidating others. Hopefully you wouldn’t swagger down the hall doing that though!
Vocabulary lists containing swagger
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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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.
See Examples For:
Arsenal started last season as nearly men - but now they have the swagger of winners.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
It just has to find a way to get its swagger back.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Medea must be angry, Spider-Man must be helpful and Odysseus, dang it, must have swagger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
There was nothing girlish or even mock-girlish about their swagger — they were women.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
No wonder Matt, with his childish swagger, wanted to be part of it.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
When Gustav swaggers back into the daughters’ lives to play the cheery grandfather and beloved papa, both are skeptical.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
“An hour before the ceremony, the bridegroom swaggers in in his white undershirt,” Weiss writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2025
The critics said: “Catchy as hell and swaggers out of the speakers with an infectious joy.”
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
Howard swaggers in his presence like the man with nothing to lose that he is.
From Salon ● May 24, 2022
He looks quickly from side to side, and when he realizes that no one in the crowd has noticed anything, he straightens his lapels in righteous indignation and swaggers toward the back entrance.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
As plainclothes detective Tony Baretta, he swaggered through four gritty seasons in muscle shirts and a newsboy cap, with a snappy street patter and a pet cockatoo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Last summer Smith swaggered into England's Test side like he always belonged , and his nascent rise into one of his country's multi-format stars continued at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
He swaggered through high school, told teammates he was great, and in the minor leagues in the early 1960s, he infuriated other players by appearing to try too hard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024
Then he put his hands in his pockets and swaggered around the stage.
From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
Guys with good builds swaggered among the blankets and umbrellas, slowing down and sucking in their stomachs whenever they passed girls.
From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte
With the swaggering Wyatt-Hodge in this form - she now has the most runs ever at a single women's T20 World Cup - anything feels possible.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Lawrence, who worked with him on his adaptation of Hiaasen’s “Bad Monkey,” describes him as surprisingly modest, entirely unlike his swaggering creations.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
It is now narrowly focused on District of Columbia news and politics, making it less a swaggering international newspaper than a publication whose purview matches Politico’s.
From Slate ● Feb. 7, 2026
But the dudes can take a victory lap today, celebrating the nomination of Joseph Kosinski’s swaggering, vroom-vroom sports movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
As Mr. Fun turned away to talk to them, Adam came swaggering over to the Hardys.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
