thrasonical

American  

[threy-son-i-kuhl] / θreɪˈsɒn ɪ kəl /

adjective

1. boastful; vainglorious.

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thrasonical British  

/ θrəˈsɒnɪkəl /

adjective

1. rare bragging; boastful

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Other Word Forms

• thrasonically adverb

Etymology

Origin of thrasonical

1555–65; < Latin Thrasōn- (stem of Thrasō, braggart in Terence's Eunuchus ) + -ical

Explanation

Do you know a thrasonical person, someone who's always bragging, acting superior, or making exaggerated claims? If so, you've probably discovered that being thrasonical is a real turn-off! Thrasonical comes from Thraso, the name of a character in a comedy called The Eunuch, written by a Roman playwright in the 2nd century BCE. In the play, Thraso is a rich, arrogant army officer who boasts and brags to impress a woman. Apparently the play was very successful, but it wasn't entirely original: The playwright, Terence, borrowed the basic story and characters from an earlier Greek play written by Menander. Feel free to impress people by using the fancy word thrasonical and telling the story about its origins — but try not to act in a thrasonical manner when you do so!

Example Sentences

This will not be found, I think, too lofty, or too thrasonical an estimate of what has been attempted.

From Studies in Literature by Morley, John

The teachers and pupils are too genuine ever to become thrasonical, and no teacher or pupil is ever heard to boast of anything pertaining to the school.

From The Vitalized School by Pearson, Francis B.

With this thrasonical challenge the pirates set sail for Otoque, another of the islands in the bay; for Taboga, though it was "an exceeding pleasant island," was by this time bare of meat.

From On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. by Masefield, John

All that he believed was that this was merely an expression of Buckingham's fanfaronading, thrasonical disposition, a form of vain, empty boasting peculiar to megalomaniacs.

From The Historical Nights' Entertainment Second Series by Sabatini, Rafael

Novi hominem tanquam te—his humour is lofty, his discourse peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majestical, and his general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical.

From Pelham — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron