bravado en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /bɹəˈvɑdoʊ/
- (Southern-England) audio
- /bɹɑˈvɑdoʊ/
Etymology
From French bravade (“bragging or boasting”), from Italian bravata, from verb bravare (“brag, boast”), from bravo. Compare bravura.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A swaggering show of defiance or courage.
The rise of SOS devices – satellite-synched gadgets that send a signal to rescue agencies when activated – give people bravado, Estrada says. “A lot of people carry these SOS devices and they think they can get into any trouble and they can get help,” he says, adding that he has seen more requests for assistance recently.
2023 February 11, Katharine Gammon, “A mountain of trouble? The draw – and danger – of California’s Mount Baldy”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:Stripped of all bravado, Cersei breaks, and shows the very scared, vulnerable woman who has kept her emotions at bay. “I don’t want to die,” she whimpers, “Not like this.” It’s all the more moving for coming from a character who built her identity on steely resolve and contempt for such hoary conceits as fear.
2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 15 May 2019:Behind the display of bravado, Trump must surely have sensed that his approach to foreign policy was catching up with him.
2025 September 22, Vivek Viswanathan, “The Art of the Decline”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 22 Sep 2025:No doubt there is fear despite the bravado, but there is also no significant loss of Ukrainian military cohesion.
2023 April 2, Dan Sabbagh, Ed Ram, “Surrounded and outgunned, Ukraine’s tank crews prepare for battle of Bakhmut”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:Rokoff assumed a truculent air, attempting by bravado to show how little he feared Tarzan’s threats.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 47:For a bravado he had the organ taken down and conveyed to his father's house, where he had it put up in the chamber where it now stands. It was also for a bravado that he played on it every day. But, by−and−by, the amount of time which he spent at it daily began to increase rapidly.
1891, Rosa Mulholland, The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly, page 12:1990 Amy Longsdorf, K.T. Oslin: Personality, Wit and Style To Spare", The Morning Callhttp://articles.mcall.com/1990-08-11/entertainment/2758085_1_oslin-country-music-kt Songs like "Hey Bobby", and "Do Ya" drip with innuendo and sexual bravado.
The angry customer stood in the middle of the showroom and voiced his complaints with loud bravado.
- (countable, uncountable) A superficial show of courage.
- (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A swaggerer; a braggart.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bravadoes | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| bravade | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| bravados | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (51)
ga gaisciúlacht (a show of defiance or courage) · pl brawura (a show of defiance or courage) · el νταηλίκι (a false show of courage) · es bravuconería (a false show of courage) · de Getöse (a show of defiance or courage) · ga laochas (a show of defiance or courage) · cmn 虛張聲勢 /虚张声势 (a false show of courage) · es bravata (a false show of courage) · es bravata (a show of defiance or courage) · mi whāuraura (a show of defiance or courage) · bg фукане (a show of defiance or courage) · fi uhmakkuus (a show of defiance or courage) · de Gehabe (a show of defiance or courage) · it bravata (a show of defiance or courage) · es bravura (a show of defiance or courage) · hu harciasság (a show of defiance or courage) · is sýndarhugrekki (a show of defiance or courage) · de Draufgängertum (a show of defiance or courage) · tl bangad (a false show of courage) · es baladronada (a false show of courage) · hu hősködés (a false show of courage) · fr bravade (a show of defiance or courage) · hu erőfitogtatás (a show of defiance or courage) · es bravura (a false show of courage) · ga laochas (a false show of courage) · is mannalæti (a false show of courage) · ru брава́да (a false show of courage) · ja 虚勢 (a false show of courage) · de Angeberei (a show of defiance or courage) · tl bangad (a show of defiance or courage) · el ψευτοπαληκαρισμός (a false show of courage) · pt bravata (a false show of courage) · ru брава́да (a show of defiance or courage) · el νταηλίκι (a show of defiance or courage) · bg перчене (a show of defiance or courage) · is mannalæti (a show of defiance or courage) · de theatralisches Getue (a false show of courage) · pt bravata (a show of defiance or courage) · pl brawura (a false show of courage) · hu virtuskodás (a false show of courage) · uk брава́да (a false show of courage) · ga mórtas (a false show of courage) · de Gehabe (a false show of courage) · hu virtus (a show of defiance or courage) · ja 空威張り (a false show of courage) · es bravuconada (a false show of courage) · de Getue (a show of defiance or courage) · ga gaisce (a false show of courage) · is sýndarhugrekki (a false show of courage) · hu legénykedés (a false show of courage) · mi whakatumatuma (a show of defiance or courage)