possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance.
2.
making a fine appearance.
3.
Archaic. excellent; fine; admirable.
–noun
4.
a brave person.
5.
a warrior, esp. among North American Indian tribes.
6.
Obsolete.
a.
a bully.
b.
a boast or challenge.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to meet or face courageously: to brave misfortunes.
8.
to defy; challenge; dare.
9.
Obsolete. to make splendid.
–verb (used without object)
10.
Obsolete. to boast; brag.
[Origin: 1475–85; < MF < Sp bravo (> It) < VL *brabus for L barbarusbarbarous]
—Related forms
bravely, adverb
braveness, noun
—Synonyms 1. bold, intrepid, daring, dauntless, heroic. Brave,courageous,valiant,fearless,gallant refer to confident bearing in the face of difficulties or dangers. Brave is the most comprehensive: it is especially used of that confident fortitude or daring that actively faces and endures anything threatening. Courageous implies a higher or nobler kind of bravery, esp. as resulting from an inborn quality of mind or spirit that faces or endures perils or difficulties without fear and even with enthusiasm. Valiant implies a correspondence between an inner courageousness and external deeds, particularly of physical strength or endurance. Fearless implies unflinching spirit and coolness in the face of danger. Gallant implies a chivalrous, impetuous, or dashing bravery.
Making a fine display; impressive or showy: "a coat of brave red lipstick on a mouth so wrinkled that it didn't even have a clear outline"(Anne Tyler).
Excellent; great: "The Romans were like brothers/In the brave days of old"(Thomas Macaulay).
n.
A Native American warrior.
A courageous person.
Archaic A bully.
v.
braved, brav·ing, braves
v.
tr.
To undergo or face courageously.
To challenge; dare: "Together they would brave Satan and all his legions"(Emily Brontë).
Obsolete To make showy or splendid.
v.
intr.Archaic
To make a courageous show or put up a stalwart front.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Old Italian or Old Spanish bravo, wild, brave, excellent, probably from Vulgar Latin *brabus, from Latin barbarus; see barbarous.]
brave'ly adv., brave'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean having or showing courage under difficult or dangerous conditions. Brave, the least specific, is frequently associated with an innate quality: "Familiarity with danger makes a brave man braver" (Herman Melville).
Courageous implies consciously rising to a specific test by drawing on a reserve of inner strength: The courageous soldier helped the civilians escape from the enemy. Fearless emphasizes absence of fear and resolute self-possession: "world-class [boating] races for fearless loners willing to face the distinct possibility of being run down, dismasted, capsized, attacked by whales" (Jo Ann Morse Ridley).
Intrepid sometimes suggests invulnerability to fear: Intrepid pioneers settled the American West. Bold stresses readiness to meet danger or difficulty and often a tendency to seek it out: "If we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at the hazard of their lives ... then bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by" (Theodore Roosevelt).
Audacious implies extreme confidence and boldness: "To demand these God-given rights is to seek black power—what I call audacious power" (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.)
Valiant suggests the bravery of a hero or a heroine: "a sympathetic and detailed biography that sees Hemingway as a valiant and moral man" (New York Times).
Valorous applies to the deeds of heroes and heroines: "The other hostages [will] never forget her calm, confident, valorous work" (William W. Bradley).
Mettlesome stresses spirit and love of challenge: "her horse, whose mettlesome spirit required a better rider" (Henry Fielding).
Plucky emphasizes spirit and heart in the face of unfavorable odds: "Everybody was ... anxious to show these Belgians what England thought of their plucky little country" (H.G. Wells).
Dauntless refers to courage that resists subjection or intimidation: "So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,/There never was knight like the young Lochinvar" (Sir Walter Scott).
Undaunted suggests persistent courage and resolve: "Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey.... We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible" (Winston S. Churchill). See Also Synonyms at defy.
1485, from M.Fr. "splendid, valiant," from It. bravo "brave, bold," orig. "wild, savage," possibly from M.L. bravus "cutthroat, villain," from L. pravus "crooked, depraved;" a less likely etymology being from L. barbarus (see barbarous). A Celtic origin (Ir. breagh, Cornish bray) has also been suggested. The noun application to N. American Indian warrior is from 1601. The verb "to face with bravery" is from 1776. Bravery is from 1548. Brave new world is from the title of Aldous Huxley's 1932 satirical utopian novel; he lifted the phrase from Shakespeare ("Tempest" v.i.183).
possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching; "Familiarity with danger makes a brave man braver but less daring"- Herman Melville; "a frank courageous heart...triumphed over pain"- William Wordsworth; "set a courageous example by leading them safely into and out of enemy-held territory" [ant: cowardly]
2.
invulnerable to fear or intimidation; "audacious explorers"; "fearless reporters and photographers"; "intrepid pioneers" [syn: audacious]
3.
brightly colored and showy; "girls decked out in brave new dresses"; "brave banners flying"; "'braw' is a Scottish word"; "a dress a bit too gay for her years"; "birds with gay plumage"
noun
1.
a North American Indian warrior
2.
people who are brave; "the home of the free and the brave" [ant: cautious]
verb
1.
face and withstand with courage; "She braved the elements" [syn: weather]
Bar"ba*rous\, a. [L. barbarus, Gr. ?, strange, foreign; later, slavish, rude, ignorant; akin to L. balbus stammering, Skr. barbara stammering, outlandish. Cf. Brave, a.]1. Being in the state of a barbarian; uncivilized; rude; peopled with barbarians; as, a barbarous people; a barbarous country. 2. Foreign; adapted to a barbaric taste. [Obs.] Barbarous gold. --Dryden. 3. Cruel; ferocious; inhuman; merciless. By their barbarous usage he died within a few days, to the grief of all that knew him. --Clarendon. 4. Contrary to the pure idioms of a language. A barbarous expression --G. Campbell. Syn: Uncivilized; unlettered; uncultivated; untutored; ignorant; merciless; brutal. See Ferocious.
Bra*va"do\ (br[.a]*v[=a]"d[-o]), n., pl. Bravadoes (-d[-o]z). [Sp. bravada, bravata, boast, brag: cf. F. bravade. See Brave.] Boastful and threatening behavior; a boastful menace. In spite of our host's bravado. --Irving.
Brave\ (br[=a]v), a. [Compar. Braver; superl. Bravest.] [F. brave, It. or Sp. bravo, (orig.) fierce, wild, savage, prob. from. L. barbarus. See Barbarous, and cf. Bravo.]1. Bold; courageous; daring; intrepid; -- opposed to cowardly; as, a brave man; a brave act. 2. Having any sort of superiority or excellence; -- especially such as in conspicuous. [Obs. or Archaic as applied to material things.] Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth. --Bacon. It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall. --Pepys. 3. Making a fine show or display. [Archaic] Wear my dagger with the braver grace. --Shak. For I have gold, and therefore will be brave. In silks I'll rattle it of every color. --Robert Greene. Frog and lizard in holiday coats And turtle brave in his golden spots. --Emerson. Syn: Courageous; gallant; daring; valiant; valorous; bold; heroic; intrepid; fearless; dauntless; magnanimous; high-spirited; stout-hearted. See Gallant.
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