swaggers

Noun (1)

swagger (countable and uncountable, plural swaggers)

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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

Noun (2)

swagger (plural swaggers)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, historical) 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

See all 8 meanings of swagger