Adjacent Words

Swagger definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SWAG'GER, v.i. To bluster; to bully; to boast or brag noisily; to be tumultuously proud.
What a pleasure it is to swagger at the bar.
To be great is not to swagger at our footmen.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (British informal) very chic; "groovy clothes" [syn: groovy, swagger] n
1: an itinerant Australian laborer who carries his personal belongings in a bundle as he travels around in search of work [syn: swagman, swagger, swaggie]
2: a proud stiff pompous gait [syn: strut, prance, swagger] v
1: to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others; "He struts around like a rooster in a hen house" [syn: tittup, swagger, ruffle, prance, strut, sashay, cock]
2: discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate [syn: browbeat, bully, swagger]
3: act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner [syn: swagger, bluster, swash]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (swaggered; swaggering) Etymology: probably from ¹swag + -er (as in chatter) Date: circa 1596 intransitive verb 1. to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner; especially to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence 2. boast, brag transitive verb to force by argument or threat ; bully • swaggerer noun • swaggeringly adverb II. noun Date: 1725 1. a. an act or instance of swaggering b. arrogant or conceitedly self-assured behavior c. ostentatious display or bravado 2. a self-confident outlook ; cockiness III. adjective Date: 1879 marked by elegance or showiness ; posh

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v., n., & adj. --v.intr. 1 walk arrogantly or self-importantly. 2 behave arrogantly; be domineering. --n. 1 a swaggering gait or manner. 2 swaggering behaviour. 3 a dashing or confident air or way of doing something. 4 smartness. --adj. 1 colloq. smart or fashionable. 2 (of a coat) cut with a loose flare from the shoulders. Phrases and idioms: swagger stick a short cane carried by a military officer. Derivatives: swaggerer n. swaggeringly adv. Etymology: app. f. SWAG v. + -ER(4)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swagger Swag"ger, n. A swagman. [Australia]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swagman Swag"man, n. A bushman carrying a swag and traveling on foot; -- called also swagsman, swagger, and swaggie.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swagger Swag"ger, v. t. To bully. [R.] --Swift.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swagger Swag"ger, n. The act or manner of a swaggerer. He gave a half swagger, half leer, as he stepped forth to receive us. --W. Irving.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swagger Swag"ger, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swaggered; p. pr. & vb. n. Swaggering.] [Freq. of swag.] 1. To walk with a swaying motion; hence, to walk and act in a pompous, consequential manner. A man who swaggers about London clubs. --Beaconsfield. 2. To boast or brag noisily; to be ostentatiously proud or vainglorious; to bluster; to bully. What a pleasant it is . . . to swagger at the bar! --Arbuthnot. To be great is not . . . to swagger at our footmen. --Colier.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(swaggers, swaggering, swaggered) If you swagger, you walk in a very proud, confident way, holding your body upright and swinging your hips. A broad shouldered man wearing a dinner jacket swaggered confidently up to the bar... John Steed was an arrogant, swaggering young man. VERB: V prep/adv, V-ing • Swagger is also a noun. He walked with something of a swagger. N-SING

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Bluster, bully, vapor, brag, be insolent, boast. II. n. Bluster, boastful manner, boastfulness.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To bully, brag, or boast, also to strut.

Moby Thesaurus

amble, arrogance, barge, bluff, bluster, bluster and bluff, blustering, boast, boastfulness, boasting, bombast, bounce, bowl along, brag, braggadocio, braggartism, bragging, brandish, bravado, brave show, bully, bullying, bundle, bustle, clump, cock, conceit, crow, cut a swath, display, drag, draw the longbow, drifter, droop, fanfaronade, flaunt, flounce, flourish, flurry, fluster, foot, footslog, fuss, gait, gallop, gasconade, gasconism, halt, hector, hectoring, heroics, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hobo, hop, intimidate, intimidation, jactation, jactitation, jog, jolt, jump, limp, lock step, lumber, lunge, lurch, mince, mincing steps, ostentation, out-herod Herod, pace, paddle, parade, peacock, peacockery, peacockishness, peg, piaffe, piaffer, plod, pontificate, prance, prink, puff, rack, rage, rant, rave, roadster, rodomontade, roister, roll, rollick, sashay, saunter, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, shack, shamble, show, show off, shuffle, side, sidle, single-foot, skip, slang, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slowness, speak for Buncombe, splutter, sputter, stagger, stalk, stamp, step, stomp, storm, straddle, straggle, stride, stroll, strolling gait, strut, strutting, stump, sundowner, swaggering, swagman, swank, swash, swashbuckle, swashbucklering, swashbucklery, swashbuckling, swell, swing, tittup, toddle, totter, traipse, traveler, tread, trip, trot, trudge, vanity, vapor, vaunt, vauntery, vaunting, velocity, waddle, walk, wamble, wiggle, wobble