vaunt

[vawnt, vahnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vaunt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to speak vaingloriously of; boast of: to vaunt one's achievements.

verb (used without object)

to speak boastfully; brag.

noun

a boastful action or utterance.

Origin of vaunt

1350–1400; Middle English vaunten < Middle French vanter to boast < Late Latin vānitāre, frequentative of *vānāre, derivative of Latin vānus vain. See vanity

Related formsvaunt·er, nounvaunt·ing·ly, adverbout·vaunt, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vaunt

prate, boast, crow, gasconade, strut, brag, flaunt, display

Examples from the Web for vaunt

Historical Examples of vaunt

He has answered me back, vaunt for vaunt, rhetoric for rhetoric.
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Thus did he vaunt, and the Argives were stung by his saying.
The Iliad
Homer
Thus did he vaunt, but darkness closed the eyes of the other.
The Iliad
Homer
They put forth their hypothesis as a provisional one, and they vaunt its convenience.
The Mind and the Brain
Alfred Binet
You vaunt that you sit as firm on your throne as this pyramid reposes on its base.
The Lost Continent
C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne

British Dictionary definitions for vaunt

vaunt

verb

(tr) to describe, praise, or display (one's success, possessions, etc) boastfully

(intr) rare, or literary to use boastful language; brag

noun

a boast

archaic ostentatious display

Derived Formsvaunter, noun

Word Origin for vaunt

C14: from Old French vanter, from Late Latin vānitāre to brag, from Latin vānus vain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vaunt

c.1400, "speak vainly or proudly," from Middle French vanter "to praise, speak highly of," from Late Latin vanitare "to boast," frequentative of Latin vanare "to utter empty words," from vanus "idle, empty" (see vain). Related: Vaunted; vaunting.