On December 8, 1794, a group of boys playing in a New Orleans courtyard lose control of a fire to gusty winds. The ensuing blaze engulfs more than 200 buildings in what is now known as the city’s French Quarter. It was a devastating blow. A colony of Spain at the time, New Orleans was […]

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 8, 2025 is:

bravado • \bruh-VAH-doh\  • noun

Bravado refers to confident or brave talk or behavior that is intended to impress other people.

// She tells the stories of her youthful exploits with enough bravado to invite suspicion that they're embellished a bit.

// The crew of climbers scaled the mountain with youthful bravado.

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Examples:

"One problem that exists in the whitewater community overall is that people don't always understand the basic elements associated with water and their ignorance and bravado often lead to an incident where someone gets injured or killed." — Tracy Hines, The Durango (Colorado) Herald, 19 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

Displays of bravado may be show-offish, daring, reckless, and inconsistent with good sense—take, for example, the spectacular feats of stuntpeople—but when successful, they are still likely to be met with shouts of "bravo!" Celebrities, political leaders, corporate giants, and schoolyard bullies, however, may show a different flavor of bravado: one that suggests an overbearing boldness that comes from arrogance or from being in a position of power. The word bravado originally comes from the Italian adjective bravo, meaning "wild" or "courageous," which English can also thank for the more common brave.

By Christian J. Collier