Brag
verbTo talk with excessive pride about one's achievements or possessions.
How to spell brag
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce brag
What does brag mean?
- verbTo talk with excessive pride about one's achievements or possessions.
- nounA boastful statement or an arrogant claim about oneself.
Brag in a sentence
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verb
He likes to brag about his new car at every dinner party.
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noun
His constant brag about earnings annoyed the whole office.
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verb
She never bothers to brag about her exam results.
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noun
The advert was little more than an empty brag about quality.
Where does brag come from?
Language of origin: Other
Brag first appears in Middle English around the 1300s as a verb and adjective meaning 'spirited', 'showy', or 'boastful', though its ultimate source is genuinely uncertain. Some scholars link it to a Celtic root suggesting 'lively' or 'arrogant', while others connect it to Old French 'braguer', meaning to flaunt finery or strut about. The Old French word itself may relate to 'brague', a kind of fine breeches, so the original idea was something like dressing up and showing off. Over time English narrowed the meaning to the act of speaking too proudly about oneself, and the noun sense (a piece of boasting) grew alongside it. The spelling has stayed short and simple precisely because the word is old, blunt, and everyday, which is also why it is easy to spell.
How the word is built
- brag (a single Middle English root meaning to boast; no prefix or suffix)
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