Word of the Day Archive
Saturday September 14, 2002
bravado \bruh-VAH-doh\ , noun;
plural bravados or bravadoes \bruh-VAH-dohz\:
A real or pretended show of courage or boldness.
While the popular mood in Belgrade remains defiant, unease beneath the bravado is growing.
-- "No end in sight", The Economist, April 15, 1999
His guerrilla operations, near Kabul, were known for their bravado and a level of organization unusual among the rather haphazard mujahedeen.
-- Lisa Schiffren, "Remembering Abdul Haq: The Taliban executes an Afghan patriot", The Weekly Standard, November 12, 2001
The company's culture of swashbuckling bravado encouraged risk taking without accountability.
-- Ram Charan and Jerry Useem, "Why Companies Fail", Fortune, May 27, 2002
His mom was a nurse, incredulous at his bravado. "Why would anybody want to go to war?" she asked.
-- Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
The students often compared public schools to prisons, with fear in their voices mixing with bravado.
-- Alissa Quart, "Classroom Consciousness", The Nation, June 10, 2002
Bravado derives from Spanish bravada and French bravade, "swagger, bravery," and is related to brave, "bold, courageous," bravura, "a brilliant style or performance," and the Italian interjections bravo! and brava! used when expressing approval of male and female performers respectively.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for bravado
