Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To talk boastfully. See Synonyms at boast1.
- v. To assert boastfully.
- n. A boast.
- n. Arrogant or boastful speech or manner.
- n. Something boasted of.
- n. A braggart; a boaster.
- n. Games A card game similar to poker.
- adj. Exceptionally fine.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To use boastful language; speak vaingloriously of one's self or belongings; boast; vaunt: used absolutely, or followed by of, formerly sometimes by on: as, to brag of a good horse, or of a feat of arms.
- To sound, as a trumpet; blare; bray.
- To boast of.
- To blow (a trumpet).
- n. A boast or boasting; a vaunt; also, boastfulness.
- n. A thing to boast of; source of pride.
- n. A game of cards: same as poker.
- n. A bragger.
- Proud; boasting: as, “that bragge prescription,”
- Also used adverbially.
Wiktionary
- v. To boast; to talk with excessive pride about what one has, can do, or has done.
- n. A boast, a loud appraisal of oneself.
- n. by ellipsis The card game three card brag.
- adj. First-rate.
- adv. obsolete proudly; boastfully
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To talk about one's self, or things pertaining to one's self, in a manner intended to excite admiration, envy, or wonder; to talk boastfully; to boast; -- often followed by
of . - v. obsolete To boast of.
- n. A boast or boasting; bragging; ostentatious pretense or self glorification.
- n. The thing which is boasted of.
- n. A game at cards similar to bluff.
- adj. Archaic Brisk; full of spirits; boasting; pretentious; conceited.
- adv. obsolete Proudly; boastfully.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. exceptionally good
- n. an instance of boastful talk
- v. show off
Etymologies
- Mid-14th c. Middle English braggen ("to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully") of unknown origin. Possibly related to the early-14th c. Middle English adjective brag ("prideful, spirited"), probably from Celtic; or Old Norse bragr ("best, foremost; poetry"); or through Old English from Old Norse braka ("to creak"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English braggen, from brag, ostentatious. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Eileen gets into her uniform -- crisp yellow blouse, navy blue vest and matching military-style cap -- and brings out what she calls her "brag" board, a navy blue swath of fabric that's about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide.”
The Huffington Post: Nancy Ruhling: Astoria Characters: The Church Lady
“Plus, I wouldn't dare forget the mushroom haircut, which I have to brag is not that far from that of Anna Wintour (if the lady is so fashionable, why does she have my Y2K hairdo?).”
The Huffington Post: Laurenne Sala: Pants Gone Missing at a Hollywood Club
“Government ` s inflation brag is shortlived - Says ex-Finance Minister”
“The arrest came after the suspect, Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr. of Dadeville, Ala., allegedly called in to a Birmingham-based radio show using an alias to brag about putting killer herbicides in the soil at the spot in Auburn, Ala., known as Toomer's Corner.”
USA Today: Alabama fan arrested on charges of poisoning hallowed Auburn trees
“Now if Kyle wants to enable her admittedly "disheveled" sister by testing her drinks, rushing her off to fix her makeup and violently coming to her defense — as she did during last night's disastrous game night at name-dropping, price-tag brag Dana's place — fine.”
Watercooler: Can Someone Please Help the Real Housewives' Kim?
“Meanwhile, the term "humble brag" is slowly seeping into the public consciousness.”
The Wall Street Journal: Re-Tweeting (Not-So) Humble Promoters
“Cleburn's is called the brag division of Bragg's army.”
Diary of Samuel A. Agnew : September 27, 1863-June 30, 1864,
“He knew that it was in his aunt's nature to make a brag of that sort; but worse than the brag was the fact that this was the first occasion on which Christine had deigned to show her consciousness that such a marriage would be a source of pride to his relatives -- the only two he had in the world.”
“If you're having trouble seeing how the conclusion follows from the facts, start by looking up "brag" in that dictionary of yours.”
Tom McIntyre Explains His Picks for our 2009 Hunting and Fishing Heroes and Villians Face-Off
“Unfortunately, hard work does not always speak for itself and we have to learn to 'brag' a little.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘brag’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Talk Talk
Words for Talking
( open list, randomness )squawk, gab, chatter, chitchat, blab, prattle, blather, discuss, hector, plead, cajole, harangue and 200 more...
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supernatural creatures according to M...
Turned this up on etymonline.com (link). It's amazing.
Hobbit (n.)
1937, coined in the fantasy tales of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).
On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole...ghost, boggle, bloody-bones, spirit, demon, ignis fatuus, brownie, bugbear, black dog, specter, shellycoat, scarecrow and 186 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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Fictional beasties
elf, gnome, dwarf, sprite, troll, fairy, nymph, imp, brownie, sasquatch, yeti, wookiee and 574 more...
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Slang words of Irish origin according...
Compare the etymologies of these words as given in the OED with the Gaelic backgrounders in this book, How the Irish Invented Slang: The Secret Language of the Crossroads (Counterpunch, 2007). Awai...
smack, snazzy, pussy, geek, dork, dude, smudge, snap, slugger, slum, scam, slew and 102 more...
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DYSLEXIC'S DREAD
Words That Make Sense in Reverse Too! Bad news for a dyslexic, 'cause s/he's got no clue if s/he read the word correctly or not, as opposed to a palindrome (i.e., no mistake possible, cf. "Dyslexic...
tool, lever, nap, pool, leer, leek, desserts, strop, doom, ukiah, yaws, ward and 213 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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February
boast, brag, gaff, overtake, meld, pheasant, shuck, scold, snatch, stand up, bail on, fetch and 18 more...
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January
shard, famine, lure, gentry, connive, conspicuous, stroller, dashboard, trichinosis, sash window, condescension, sophomore and 53 more...
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Unknown
legerdemain, corny, defray, hone, scorn, rascal, dodge, shenanigan, keg, guild, candid, faze and 32 more...
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alternatives to say (to reveal charac...
for the character building workshop in 3 ESO
babble, bark, blurt, bellow, brag, chortle, chuckle, groan, grumble, gasp, growl, gabble and 29 more...
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The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
Words and phrases from Chris Wooding's book, The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray.
griddle, overhead, circumscribe, mawkish, lour, coccyx, stetson, barrister, glut, heath, swill, grog and 47 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for brag.
oroboros Garb in reverse. Nov 2, 2007