What does bravado mean?
Bravado refers to a bold, swaggering display of courage or self-confidence, typically one that serves to impress onlookers rather than reflect genuine bravery. When someone talks big before a fight, makes reckless boasts to peers, or struts through a risky situation with exaggerated assurance, they are exhibiting bravado. The word almost always carries a critical or skeptical edge: it implies that the confidence being projected is hollow, performed, or a mask for fear. It functions chiefly as an uncountable noun ('his bravado crumbled under pressure'), though countable uses exist. Common collocations include 'pure bravado', 'mere bravado', and 'an act of bravado'. Borrowed from Spanish 'bravada' in the late sixteenth century, it shares its roots with 'brave', 'bravery', and 'bravura'. Bravado remains a useful word for puncturing pretension — it names the gap between how bold someone sounds and how brave they actually are, making it indispensable for describing everything from schoolyard dares to political posturing.
nounA bold, swaggering display of courage or confidence, often intended to impress others and frequently masking underlying fear or insecurity.
- A bold, confident manner or show of courage, especially when concealing fear or insecurity.
"His talk of quitting was pure bravado — he knew he needed the job."
"She strode into the interview with an air of bravado that hid her nerves."
"The teenagers' midnight dare was nothing more than drunken bravado."
Rare; bravado is overwhelmingly used as an uncountable noun, so plural forms appear only occasionally.
"The memoir catalogues the youthful bravados of its author's early career."
Borrowed straight from Spanish 'bravada', bravado entered English in the late 1500s — the age of Shakespeare's swaggering soldiers — and it has described loud, hollow courage ever since.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bravado
Bravado comes from the Spanish 'bravada', meaning a boast or show of defiance, derived from 'bravo' (bold, spirited), which ultimately traces back through Italian and possibly Latin origins related to wildness or savagery. The word entered English in the late sixteenth century, during a period of heavy borrowing from Spanish and Italian. It shares this root with related English words such as 'brave', 'bravery', and 'bravura', all conveying boldness in different registers.
How bravado is actually used
Usually carries a negative or skeptical connotation, implying the displayed confidence is not backed by substance. Countable in phrases like 'a piece of bravado' but most often used as an uncountable mass noun.
Easily confused with bravado
Bravado is a showy display of false or exaggerated courage, while bravura is genuine, brilliant technical skill or performance.