How to use swagger in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun, adjective

Swagger means to behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner. Example: “He walked down the street with a jaunty swaggering step, as if daring others less perfectly satisfied to intrude upon his good mood.”

Examples of swagger by meaning

nounConfidence, pride.

After spending so much of the season looking upwards, the swashbuckling style and swagger of early season Spurs was replaced by uncertainty and frustration against a Norwich side who had the quality and verve to take advantage2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 - 2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport

nounA prideful boasting or bragging.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and the wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their lives on the shattered dreams of others.1968, Robert F. Kennedy, On the Mindless Menace of Violence

adjectiveFashionable; trendy.

Morton was well known for her Americanisms, her swagger dinner parties, and beautiful Paris gowns.1908, Baroness Orczy, The Old Man in the Corner

nounSomeone carrying a swag; a swagman.

She looked down in her half-dreaming state and thought they might be swaggers.2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 66

More sentences with swagger

He walked down the street with a jaunty swaggering step, as if daring others less perfectly satisfied to intrude upon his good mood.From the entry jaunty
Men in Sunday suits and orange collarettes swaggered to the music from uniformed flute bands.2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 206. From the entry collarette
So the stank, the swagger about her businessness of her aesthetic, her style.2021 February 4, Wesley Morris, Jenna Wortham, “Best of the Archives: Aretha Franklin”, in Still Processing (podcast), spoken by Jenna…. From the entry businessness
The six of them stood out like dog's balls and walked with a vampire swagger.2012, Watson Watson, Bolters and Coolers: Tales of a Bouncer, Bodyguard and Cook, page 42. From the entry stand out like dog's balls
They swaggered around in their Smokey Bears, as if a felt hat would intimidate a short-fused grenade.2011, Robert Buettner, Orphanage: Jason Wander series - Book 1, →ISBN. From the entry smokey bear
Rex-like swagger, then situates the reminiscence in a present fraught with "heart disease and gout." "2009 February 17, “CD REVIEWS”, in Toronto Star. From the entry groover
In an industry built on big talk and swagger, Bank of America's Kenneth Lewis is an anomaly.2008 January 17, “The Savior of Countrywide?”, in TIME, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2013. From the entry big talk
Not for nothing do bodybuilders and rappers brag and swagger about living on “Strong Island.”2007. Strong Island Underground, New York Times, Sept. 30, 2007. From the entry Strong Island
I would replace my jolly gait with a manly, wide-legged swagger.2007, Jim Tushinski, Jim Van Buskirk, Identity envy: wanting to be who we're not, page 73. From the entry sure up
He liked to boss and was often swaggering and bullylike in his playground behavior.1995, Ellis Paul Torrance, Why fly?. From the entry bullylike
Two burly men, dressed twinsy-style in identical tight pants and tanktops, swaggered along, linked by their pinkies.1979, Garry Wills, At Button’s, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews and McMeel, Inc., →ISBN, page 148. From the entry twinsy
Perhaps this big chap in the swagger flannels was one of the gang.1905 September, Arthur [Cheney] Train, “The Extraordinary Adventure of the Baron de Ville”, in McAllister and His Double, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry high roller
If he were a king, as his swagger and opera-singing occasionally suggested, he would stretch the constitution any way he wanted.2016 February 20, “Obituary: Antonin Scalia: Always right”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2020. From the entry handcuff
I grab my umbrella and swagger to the garage door, stopping long enough to turn around and say, "Oh, Mom.2016, Jessica Brody, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”, in A Week of Mondays, New York, N.Y.: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers…. From the entry shoefie
But there's a certain carefree swagger that comes from being a hairy dude among a populace of man-scapers.2016 June 18, Michael Kaplan, “After years of jokes, I finally got my back waxed”, in New York Post. From the entry man-scaper
What makes it surprising, though, are the glimmers of wit and self-awareness beneath all the rap star swagger and over-the-top confrontations.2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times. From the entry off-the-wall
Evelyn Hoskins distils boyness from wide-eyed wonder and swaggering assurance.2014 July 27, Clare Brennan, The Observer. From the entry boyness
They're dangerous, but I love their swagger.2011 May 8, Scott Jacobson, “Weekend at Mort's” (12:29 from the start), in Bob's Burgers, season 1, episode 11, spoken by Louise Belcher…. From the entry zombiephile
The swaggering rap royal is widely reported to suffer from coulrophobia, an irrational fear of the red-nosed, versized-shoe-wearing, greasepainted circus buffoons.2002 Jared Paul Stern, with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson, "Send out the Clowns", Page Six (NYT). From the entry coulrophobia
If anyone in the highborn sport known as thoroughbred horse racing has swagger these days, it is Baffert.2002 May 28, Kevin B. Blackistone, “Baffert trained for the spotlight”, in The Dallas Morning News. From the entry highborn
I wanted no sudden nauticals swaggering unexpectedly round the old bollards while I was engaged in psychic exploration.1985, Jonathan Gash [pseudonym; John Grant], chapter 4, in Pearlhanger (A Lovejoy Novel of Suspense), New York, N.Y.: A Joan Kahn book…. From the entry nautical
Double-breasted coats, swagger coats, bias, very draped, and very pleated skirts require more cloth than straight cuts and hence cost more.1957, Mabel Deane Erwin, Clothing for Moderns, page 166. From the entry draped
Smart, snappy, swagger - packed with plenty of pepper for the youth that "knows all the answers." HOT!1933, Stella Blum, Everyday Fashion of the Thirties as pictured in Sears Catalogs, published 1986, page 56. From the entry yowzah
This had lasted until one of the brattines came home as a collegienne with a swagger and a funny sweater.1917, Rupert Hughes, “Pop”, in In a Little Town, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers […], section I, page 44. From the entry collegienne
Swagger young men, some of them, too.1915, Berta Ruck, The Boy With Wings. From the entry ekkers
Ultimately most people will always think of Gallagher brother-approved trackie tops, bucket hats, parkas and a swagger when they think of Britpop.2024 December 21, Lauren Cochrane, “Parkas, bucket hats and union jacks: how the Oasis reunion tour is fuelling a comeback for the Britpop…. From the entry bucket hat
At 15, he became a casual: one of the label-wearing, wedge-flicking, swaggering hooligan peacock boys who dominated the north-west when I was growing up.2019 September 14, Miranda Sawyer, “Mark Leckey: ‘There has to be a belief that art has this power, this charisma'”, in The Guardian. From the entry casual
He was alone, and after I puttered by, I glanced back to see him swagger into the middle of the path to watch me go.2017 March, Jennifer S. Holland, “For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival”, in National Geographic, archived from the original on 03…. From the entry putter
He had an eagle tattooed on his chest, a tight-assed, narrow-hipped swagger, and a reputation for having fast hands and clever fingers.1994, Janet Evanovich, chapter 1, in One for the Money, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, page 3. From the entry tight-assed
“Thou wry-necked, trash-mongering, swaggering, double-tongued, huff-snuff!”1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 123. From the entry double-tongued
How do we deal with sadism and masculinism, masochism and femininism, the strut and the swagger, the cringe and the death wish?1966, Peter H. Odegard, American Government: readings and documents, page 603. From the entry femininism
Like many shortish men he lifted his heels when he walked; he had a haunchy, oily swagger, and Scarsdale watched him go.1932, Warwick Deeping, Old Wine and New. From the entry haunchy
Chamoisette glove samples for spring show some very swagger styles with gauntlet tops and turnover cuffs piped and embroidered with harmonious contrasts.1922, Women's Wear, Toronto, volume 6, page 51. From the entry turnover
In another video, he jokes that Madden "rizzed up" Dunne and the 10-year-old stole the gymnastics star from her boyfriend, the "drip king." "Drip" refers to swagger and style.2023 June 8, Kalhan Rosenblatt, “Who is Baby Gronk? Did Livvy 'rizz' him up? What does any of this really mean?”, in NBC News, archived…. From the entry rizz
When the album succeeds, such as on the swaggering, Queen-esque “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” it does so on The Darkness’ own terms—that is, as a random ’80s-cliché generator.2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club. From the entry album
"beneath their Golden State polish these records are as tough as teak, with a swagger imparted by as good a phrasemaker as ever made rock and roll records."2003 October 11, Helen Cushion, “Uncut Magazine Uk November issue”, in alt.music.zevon (Usenet). From the entry tough as teak

Meaning of swagger

verb To behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
verb To boast or brag noisily; to bluster; to bully.
verb To walk with a swaying motion.

Full definition of swagger

Questions about swagger in a sentence

How do you use swagger in a sentence?: Swagger is used as a verb, noun and adjective. For example: “He walked down the street with a jaunty swaggering step, as if daring others less perfectly satisfied to intrude upon his good mood.”
What is a short sentence with swagger?: ““Thou wry-necked, trash-mongering, swaggering, double-tongued, huff-snuff!””
What does swagger mean?: Swagger means to behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.

Adapted from Wiktionary: swagger (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use swagger in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/swagger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.