bluster
/ˈblʌs.tə//ˈblʌs.tɚ/
bluster noun: pompous, officious talk.
Noun
bluster (countable and uncountable, plural blusters)
- Pompous, officious talk.
- Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their...2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70
- Synonyms:
- bombast
- A gust of wind.
- Fitful noise and violence.
Verb
bluster (third-person singular simple present blusters, present participle blustering, simple past and past participle blustered)
- To speak or protest loudly.
- When confronted by opposition his reaction was to bluster, which often cowed the meek.
- To act or speak in an unduly threatening manner.
- Your ministerial directors blustered like tragic tyrants.1774 April 19, Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. on American Taxation, April 19, 1774, 2nd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, →OCLC
- He bloweth and blustereth out […] his abominable blasphemy.1532, Thomas More, Confutation of Tyndale's Answer
- To blow in strong or sudden gusts (refers to winds).
- And ever-threatening storms / Of Chaos blustering round.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
bluster meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
bluster in Tamil
- குமுறல், ஆரவாரம், கொந்தளிப்பு, சீறியெழுகை, வீம்புரை, வீறாப்பு
bluster in Urdu
- آندھی کا جھونکا, فوں فاں, جھکڑ, ادھم, بھبھکنا, دھونس جمانا
bluster in Malayalam
- to bluster, speak loudly
- ഇറമ്പുക iṟampuka
bluster in Kannada
- ಅಬ್ಬರಿಸು, ಆರ್ಭಟಿಸು, ಭೋರ್ಗರೆ
Examples of bluster in a sentence
- Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
- As if therewith he meant to bluster all princes into a perfect obedience to his commands.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
Synonyms of bluster
Forms of bluster
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | blusters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | blusters |
| present participle | blustering |
| past participle | blustered |
| past | blustered |
Origin of bluster
From Middle English blusteren (“to wander about aimlessly”); however, apparently picking up the modern sense from Middle Low German blüstren (“to blow violently”; compare later Low German blustern, blistern). Related to blow, blast. Compare also Saterland Frisian bloasje (“to blow”), bruusje (“to bluster”).
Words formed from bluster
Words that rhyme with bluster
Questions about bluster
- What does bluster mean?
- Bluster means pompous, officious talk.
- What is bluster in Tamil?
- Bluster in Tamil is குமுறல், ஆரவாரம், கொந்தளிப்பு. See Bluster meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use bluster in a sentence?
- Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
- What part of speech is bluster?
- Bluster can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce bluster?
- Bluster is pronounced /ˈblʌs.tə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of bluster?
- The plural of bluster is blusters.
Words near bluster in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bluster (page history and authors); bluster (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bluster (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ഇറമ്പുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); bluster (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bluster.ogg, en-au-bluster.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bluster.wav.
Cite this entry: “bluster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bluster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.