brag

English

Etymology

From Middle English braggen (“to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully”) of unknown origin. Possibly related to the Middle English adjective brag (“prideful; spirited”), which is probably of Celtic origin; or from Old Norse bragr (“best; foremost; poetry”); or through Old English from Old Norse braka (“to creak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɹæɡ/
• Hyphenation: brag
• Rhymes: -æɡ

Adjective

brag (comparative bragger, superlative braggest)

1. First-rate.
2. (archaic) Brisk; full of spirits; boasting; pretentious; conceited.
   • Ben Jonson

   a brag young fellow

Adverb

brag (comparative more brag, superlative most brag)

1. (obsolete) proudly; boastfully

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

Noun

brag (plural brags)

1. A boast or boasting; bragging; ostentatious pretence or self-glorification.
   • Shakespeare

     Caesar […] made not here his brag / Of "came", and "saw", and "overcame".

2. The thing which is boasted of.
   • Milton

     Beauty is Nature's brag.

3. (by ellipsis) The card game three card brag.

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

Translations

boast — see boast

card game

• French: brag (fr) m

Verb

brag (third-person singular simple present brags, present participle bragging, simple past and past participle bragged)

1. (intransitive) To boast; to talk with excessive pride about what one has, is able to do, or has done; often as an attempt to popularize oneself.

   to brag of one's exploits, courage, or money

   • Shakespeare

     Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, / Brags of his substance, not of ornament.

     Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade

2. (transitive) To boast of.

Synonyms

• boast

Hyponyms

• brag on

Derived terms

• braggart
• humblebrag

Related terms

• bragging rights

Translations

to boast

• Arabic: تَبَاهَى‏‎ (tabāhā)
• Bulgarian: хваля се (hvalja se), перча се (perča se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吹牛 (zh) (chuīniú), 吹噓 (zh), 吹嘘 (zh) (chuīxū), 自誇 (zh), 自夸 (zh) (zìkuā)

• Czech: chvástat se
• Danish: prale
• Dutch: opscheppen (nl)
• Finnish: kerskailla (fi) (jollakin), kerskua (fi) (jostakin), rehennellä (fi), leuhkia (fi)
• French: fanfaronner (fr), se vanter (fr)
• German: angeben (de), prahlen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀλαζονεύομαι (alazoneúomai)

• Italian: vantarsi
• Japanese: 自慢する (ja) (jiman suru), 力む (rikimu)

• Maori: whakatāwāhi, whakameremere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skryte

• Persian: لافیدن‏‎ (fa) (lâfidan)
• Portuguese: gabar-se, vangloriar-se
• Russian: хва́статься (ru) (xvástatʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хвалити се, хвалисати се, хвастати се

  Roman: hvaliti se (sh), hvalisati se (sh), hvastati se

• Slovak: vychvaľovať sa, chvastať sa
• Spanish: fanfarronear (es), presumir (es), jactarse (es)
• Swedish: skryta (sv)
• Turkish: böbürlenmek (tr), iftihar etmek (tr), övünmek (tr)

Anagrams

• ARGB, garb, grab

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Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse brak.

Noun

brag n (singular definite braget, plural indefinite brag)

1. bang, crash

Related terms

• brage verb

Inflection

Declension of brag

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	brag	braget	brag	bragene
genitive	brags	bragets	brags	bragenes

Verb

brag

1. imperative of brage

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North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian bregge, which derives from Proto-Germanic *brugjǭ. Cognates include West Frisian brêge.

Noun

brag f (plural bragen)

1. (Föhr-Amrum) bridge