swagger
/ˈswæɡ.ə/US/ˈswæɡ.ɚ/
swagger verb: to behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
Verb
swagger (third-person singular simple present swaggers, present participle swaggering, simple past and past participle swaggered)
- To behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
- What hempen home-ſpuns haue we ſwaggering here, / So neere the Cradle of the Faierie Queene?c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...
- He is a political humbug, the greatest of all humbugs; a man who swaggers about London clubs and consults solemnly about his influence, and in the country is a nonentity.1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter XI, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, page 235
- Synonyms:
- flaunt, preen, swank, aura farm, boulevardier, cut a wide swath, cut it fat, cut round, exhibitionize, figure away
- To boast or brag noisily; to bluster; to bully.
- To be great is not […] to swagger at our footmen.1698, Jeremy Collier, A Moral Essay upon Pride
- For the common Soldier when he goes to the Market or Ale-house will offer this Money, and if it be refused, perhaps he will SWAGGER and HECTOR, and Threaten to Beat the BUTCHER or Ale-Wife, or take the Goods by Force, and throw them the bad HALF-PENCE.1724, “The Drapier’s Letters”, in Dublin and London, Jonathan Swift, published 1730, Letter 1, p. 14
- To walk with a swaying motion.
- It's the injustice… he is so unjust—
whiskey-blind, swaggering home at five.1959, Robert Lowell, “To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage”, in Life Studies
- It's the injustice… he is so unjust—
Noun (1)
swagger (countable and uncountable, plural swaggers)
- Confidence, 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
- A bold or arrogant strut.
- He steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk, and would let that cripple of a steamboat get the upper hand of him in a minute.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I
- A 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
Adjective
swagger (comparative more swagger, superlative most swagger)
- Fashionable; trendy.
- It is to be a very swagger affair, with notables from every part of Europe, and they seem determined that no one connected with a newspaper shall be admitted.1899, Robert Barr, Jennie Baxter, Journalist
- 15 March, 1896, Ernest Rutherford, letter to Mary Newton
Mrs J.J. [Thomson] looked very well and was dressed very swagger and made a very fine hostess.
Noun (2)
swagger (plural swaggers)
- Someone carrying a swag; a swagman.
- There were now more swaggers passing down Ferry Street and more coming to ask for food […].1982, Janet Frame, An Angel at my Table, Virago, published 2024, page 25
- She looked down in her half-dreaming state and thought they might be swaggers. There were lots of them that year, camped out on the riverbank netting for whitebait, then fanning out around the streets selling their catch door to door.2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 66
swagger meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
swagger in Hindi
- to act in a pompous manner
- इतराना itrānā
swagger in Marathi
- swagger, strut, arrogance, affectation
- अकड akaḍ
- swagger; style; air of pride, confidence, or self-importance shown in one’s behavior, manner, or bearing
- तोरा torā
- to swagger
- तोरा मिरवणे torā miravṇe
- swagger; grandeur — an impressive or dignified style, bearing, or manner
- रुबाब rubāb
swagger in Urdu
- نخرہ, اٹھان, اینڈنا, اکڑ کر چلنا
swagger in Bengali
- সোয়াগার করতে, সোয়াগার করা, সোয়াগার করার জন্য
More languagesFewer languages
- swagger in Malayalam
- ഊറ്റം പറയുക, പൊങ്ങച്ചം ഭാവിക്കുക, വീമ്പിളക്കുക, പ്രശംസചെയ്യുക
- swagger in Kannada
- ಎದೆಯುಬ್ಬಿಸಿ ನಡೆ, ಹೊಗಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳು, ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಕೊಚ್ಚು, ಜಂಬದಿಂದ ನಡೆ
- swagger in Odia
- ସ୍ୱାଗର୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ସ୍ୱାଗର୍ କରିବାକୁ, ସ୍ୱାଗର୍ କରିବା
- swagger in Nepali
- स्व्यागर गर्न, स्व्यागर गर्नाका लागि, स्वागर गर्न
- swagger in Persian
- فیریدن firidan, خرامیدن xarāmidan
- swagger in Thai
- กร่าง gràang, วางมาด, วางโต
- swagger in Vietnamese
- sự tự tin, sự tự hào
Examples of swagger in a sentence
- Trump swaggered at his indoor Tulsa rally in June,[…]2020, Matt Flegenheimer, “A President’s Positive Test and the Year That Won’t Let Up”, in The New York Times:
- Morton was well known for her Americanisms, her swagger dinner parties, and beautiful Paris gowns.1908, Baroness Orczy, The Old Man in the Corner:
Synonyms of swagger
- flaunt
- preen
- swank
- aura farm
- boulevardier
- cut a wide swath
- exhibitionize
- flex
- floss
- fluff one's feathers
19 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of swagger
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | swaggers |
| present participle | swaggering |
| past participle | swaggered |
| past | swaggered |
| Noun | |
| plural | swaggers |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more swagger |
| superlative | most swagger |
Origin of swagger
A frequentative form of swag (“to sway”), first attested in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595), see quotations.
From swag + -er.
Words formed from swagger
Phrases with swagger
Words that rhyme with swagger
9 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about swagger
- What does swagger mean?
- Swagger means to behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
- What is swagger in Hindi?
- Swagger in Hindi is इतराना (itrānā). See Swagger meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use swagger in a sentence?
- Trump swaggered at his indoor Tulsa rally in June,[…]
- What part of speech is swagger?
- Swagger can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce swagger?
- Swagger is pronounced /ˈswæɡ.ə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of swagger?
- The past tense of swagger is swaggered.
Words near swagger in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: swagger (page history and authors); अकड (Marathi) (page history and authors); swagger (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swagger (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); swagger (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swagger (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swagger (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); swagger (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-au-swagger.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-swagger.wav.
Cite this entry: “swagger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swagger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.