swagger

WOTD – 29 September 2009    

English

Etymology

A frequentative form of swag (“to sway”), first attested in 1590, in A Midsummer Night's Dream III.i.79:

• PUCK: What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈswæɡ.ə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈswæɡ.ɚ/
• Rhymes: -æɡə(r)

Verb

swagger (third-person singular simple present swaggers, present participle swaggering, simple past and past participle swaggered)

1. To walk with a swaying motion; hence, to walk and act in a pompous, consequential manner.
2. To boast or brag noisily; to be ostentatiously proud or vainglorious; to bluster; to bully.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)

Derived terms

• swaggerer
• swaggeringly

Translations

to walk with a swaying motion

• Finnish: keinahdella

• Maori: whakatāmaramara (mi)

to act in a pompous manner

• Finnish: rehvastella, ylvästellä, herrastella (fi)

• French: se pavaner (fr)
• Italian: pavoneggiarsi (it)

to boast or brag noisily

• Finnish: rehennellä, rehvastella

Noun

swagger (plural swaggers)

1. confidence, pride
   • 2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 - 2 Norwich”, BBC Sport:

     After spending so much of the season looking upwards, the swashbuckling style and swagger of early season Spurs was replaced by uncertainty and frustration against a Norwich side who had the quality and verve to take advantage

2. A bold, or arrogant strut.
3. A prideful boasting or bragging.

Translations

bold or arrogant strut

• Finnish: rehvastelija (fi), rehentelijä (fi)

• Portuguese: marra (pt) f

prideful boasting or bragging

• Finnish: rehvastelu, rehentely
• French: hâblerie (fr) f, fanfaronnade (fr) f, plastronnade (fr) f, gasconnade (fr) f, vantardise (fr) f
• Portuguese: bravata (pt)

• Romanian: fanfaronadă (ro) f, lăudăroșenie (ro) f, gasconadă (ro) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish: خۆبادان (ku) (xo badan)

Anagrams

• waggers