boast

boast: boast vb Boast, brag, vaunt, crow, gasconade mean to give vent in speech to one's pride in oneself or something (as family, connections, race, or accomplishments) intimately connected with oneself. Boast and vaunt are often used transitively as well as intransitively; the other words are chiefly intransitive.

Boast is the general term; it may or may not carry a suggestion of contempt or impute exaggeration, ostentation, or vaingloriousness to the boaster

{
what folly then to boast what arms can do\—Milton
}

{
the wretch . . . abhors the craft he boasted of before— Cowper
}

{
he was childishly anxious to boast that he had walked the whole of the six or seven miles— Mackenzie
}

Brag is more forceful than boast and carries a stronger implication of exaggeration and conceit; it often also implies glorying in one's superiority or in what one can do as well as in what one is, or has, or has done

{
nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade— Shak.
}

{
even when they brag, their eyes are generally self-mocking, mildly wise— Lord
}

{
that we may brag we hae a lass, there's nane again sae bonie— Burns
}

Vaunt is more literary than either of the preceding terms; it usually connotes more pomp and bombast than boast and less crudeness or naiveté than brag

{
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up— 1 Cor 13:4
}

{
and ye vaunted your fathomless power, and ye flaunted your iron pride— Kipling
}

Crow usually implies exultant boasting or especially blatant bragging in a manner suggestive of the triumphal crowing of a cock

{
the barrister crowed with triumph but the professor was in no way put out— Kersh
}

Gasconade is the least common of these terms and implies habitual or extravagant self-vaunting

{
an enlightened statesman and not a gasconading militarist— Bowers
}

Analogous words: flaunt, parade (see SHOW): *pride, plume, pique, preen: *exalt, magnify, aggrandize

Antonyms: depreciate (oneself, one's accomplishments)

Contrasted words: *decry, disparage, belittle, minimize: deprecate (see DISAPPROVE)

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Synonyms:

Brag, vaunt, gasconade, vapor, bluster, crow, crack, flourish, exalt one's self, magnify one's self, give one's self airs, talk big, ride a high horse / Magnify (unduly), make much of, boast of, brag of, Vaunt, brag, gasconade, rodomontade, vaporing, bravado, boasting, blustering, swaggering, fanfaronade, flourish of trumpets, much cry and little wool / Shape roughly (as a block of marble), Cause of pride or laudable exultation

Look at other dictionaries:

boast — boast·ful; boast·ing·ly; boast·less; boast; boast·er; boast·ful·ly; boast·ful·ness; un·boast·fully; … English syllables
Boast — Boast, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Boasted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Boasting}.] [OE. bosten, boosten, v., bost, boost, n., noise, boasting; cf. G. bausen, bauschen, to swell, pusten, Dan. puste, Sw. pusta, to blow, Sw. p[ o]sa to swell; or W. bostio to boast … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Boast — Boast, v. t. 1. To display in ostentatious language; to speak of with pride, vanity, or exultation, with a view to self commendation; to extol. [1913 Webster] Lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. To display… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Boast — Boast, n. 1. Act of boasting; vaunting or bragging. [1913 Webster] Reason and morals? and where live they most, In Christian comfort, or in Stoic boast! Byron. [1913 Webster] 2. The cause of boasting; occasion of pride or exultation, sometimes of … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
boast — [n] brag; source of pride avowal, bluster, bombast, braggadocio, bravado, exaggeration, gasconade, grandiloquence, heroics, joy, pretension, pride, pride and joy, self satisfaction, swank, treasure, vaunt; concepts 410,710 Ant. deprecation,… … New thesaurus
boast — boast1 [bōst] vt. [< ?] to do preliminary shaping on (sculpture, stonework, etc.) with a broad chisel boast2 [bōst] vi. [ME bosten < bost, n. < Anglo Fr; prob. via Gmc * bausia (cf. Norw baus, bold, haughty), ult. < IE * bhōu , var.… … English World dictionary
Boast — Boast, v. t. [Of uncertain etymology.] 1. (Masonry) To dress, as a stone, with a broad chisel. Weale. [1913 Webster] 2. (Sculp.) To shape roughly as a preparation for the finer work to follow; to cut to the general form required. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
boast|er — 1 «BOHS tuhr», noun. a person who boasts; braggart. boast|er 2 «BOHS tuhr», noun. a broad faced chisel, used especially in sculpting … Useful english dictionary
boast — index bluster (speech), exaggeration, flaunt, include, jactation Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
boast — ► VERB 1) talk about oneself with excessive pride. 2) possess (a feature that is a source of pride). ► NOUN ▪ an act of boasting. DERIVATIVES boaster noun. ORIGIN of unknown origin … English terms dictionary

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