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:
The neighbors have sparred before, but as our Washington coverage chief Damian Paletta notes, “Canada is punching and counterpunching with a swagger that I’ve never seen from them before.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Arsenal started last season as nearly men - but now they have the swagger of winners.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
We’re in a country that really puts a premium on swagger, on faking it till you make it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
It just has to find a way to get its swagger back.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Men began to wear their handkerchiefs in their sleeves and some foppish lieutenants carried swagger sticks.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
“Monarch” swaggers forth on the strength of Kurt Russell’s rebel cowboy spirit.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2026
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
Scene: McNab the father swaggers bare-armed out the front door, bellowing back, “Do yer homework!”
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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
The 98 Agar swaggered his way to on the second day in Nottingham remains the highest score by a number 11 in Test cricket.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Then he put his hands in his pockets and swaggered around the stage.
From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
As the 80-year-old Jagger swaggered onstage, he told the attendees that the band would “play some old, and we’re gonna play some new.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
He cautioned her about the catches on the windows and doors and swaggered off to Winter Park.
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
But Marx, 61, a former Marine and expert in martial arts, is nothing if not swaggering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
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
It’s funny because it’s swaggering, full-of-itself New York, and the Mets are one of baseball’s most profligate franchises, a free-spending, $360-million payroll outfit owned by zillionaire financier Steve Cohen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 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
He walked on, swaggering a little, going as slowly as he dared and pretending that he didn’t really want to see what it was.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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.
