1
as in rhetoric
boastful speech or writing
his braggadocio hid the fact that he felt personally inadequate
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in braggart
someone who boasts
the swaggering braggadocio is a stock figure of American folklore, with Davy Crockett and Mike Fink being prime examples
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of braggadocio
The distortions of segregation in the South in the forties left their mark, to be sure, but behind his tropism for the limelight, underneath all the braggadocio that is mistaken for arrogance, lies Jesse Louis Jackson's greatest longing in life—the lust for legitimacy.
—
Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026
Timmy’s Marty promotional tour was loud and brash — viral Zoom videos, Soulja Boy routines in Brazil, standing atop the Sphere in Las Vegas — and had a lot of people wondering if his decision to adopt a Marty Mauser-style braggadocio would ultimately hurt his chances to win over Oscar voters.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
But the tonal change from braggadocio to lionization is notable, Reisman slipping at times into the giddiness of a die-hard fan meeting their idols.
—Julien Levy, Rolling Stone, 27 Dec. 2025
Other details, freely tweaked, mesh, too, but the main similarities are in temperament—a megawatt personality and a penchant for braggadocio.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for braggadocio
Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026
Timmy’s Marty promotional tour was loud and brash — viral Zoom videos, Soulja Boy routines in Brazil, standing atop the Sphere in Las Vegas — and had a lot of people wondering if his decision to adopt a Marty Mauser-style braggadocio would ultimately hurt his chances to win over Oscar voters.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
But the tonal change from braggadocio to lionization is notable, Reisman slipping at times into the giddiness of a die-hard fan meeting their idols.
—Julien Levy, Rolling Stone, 27 Dec. 2025
Other details, freely tweaked, mesh, too, but the main similarities are in temperament—a megawatt personality and a penchant for braggadocio.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for braggadocio
Recent Examples of Synonyms for braggadocio
Noun
-
Like night one in Los Angeles, the usually unfiltered artist offered no commentary on the controversy and backlash surrounding him after years of antisemitic rhetoric, mental health struggles, and his public apology in a Wall Street Journal ad this past January for his antisemitic outbursts.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
4 Apr. 2026
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The rapper previously shared rhetoric widely deemed as antisemitic on social media, used a 2025 Super Bowl ad to redirect viewers to a website selling a $20 swastika T-shirt, and dropped a song praising Adolf Hitler.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Of the many incarnations of the narcissist, there is the braggart, and there is also the neurotic.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
6 Dec. 2025
-
Still, Kimmel never came off as a braggart.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
If the turquoise waters of the Caribbean are calling your name, consider Bonaire as your spring break brag.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
-
The infamous length of Infinite Jest is, in this sense, a central feature of its ethic: not bigness as brag but duration as discipline.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The story is told from Dah’s perspective, as Jocelyn—who displays a quasi-mystical rapport with fighting cocks—suffers an emotional breakdown, putting their business and their lives in danger.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
26 July 2024
-
The former became fighting cocks and the latter became sows.—
Matthew Gavin Frank,
Harper's Magazine,
6 June 2023
Noun
-
Beirut — Strip away the bombast and superlatives.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
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People who dislike Minnelli’s singing maintain that her outer bombast conceals an inner void.—
Matt Weinstock,
New Yorker,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Much of that singularity was centered in McCarthy’s prose, which ricocheted—sometimes gracefully, sometimes jarringly—between gruff matter-of-factness and soaring, biblical grandiloquence.—
Alex Shephard,
The New Republic,
13 June 2023
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Several of them can fly, and all have at least a touch of grandiloquence to them.—
Michael Nordine,
Variety,
11 Aug. 2022
Noun
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Like all the best restaurants in Rome, Piatto Romano welcomes a steady stream of Italians for lunch and dinner, who fill the restaurant with chatter and laughter.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
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The chatter around streaming bots grew noticeably louder in August 2025, when a prison phone call between Young Thug and an unidentified associate leaked online.—
Kyle Eustice,
VIBE.com,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Rather than bluster and braggadocio, the Department of Defense needs a well-conceived and thoughtfully presented multiyear program to build a military fit for large-scale and sustained war.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
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All bluster aside, this read as an attempt at de-escalation.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Braggadocio.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/braggadocio. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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