as in cocky
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1
as in boasting
to praise or express pride in one's own possessions, qualities, or accomplishments often to excess
I, too, would swagger if I'd won first place in the bowling tournament
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2
as in strutting
to walk with exaggerated arm and leg movements
hoping to impress the women at the bar, the young man confidently swaggered across the room
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Recent Examples of swaggering
James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Their mother began a relationship with a swaggering alcoholic, their future stepfather, who mocked Scott for being soft.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
His swaggering boots remained powerfully on.
—Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
Josh Safdie takes us on a chaotic, sprawling globetrot to break down the swaggering hubris of a ping-pong prodigy who can’t being insufferable.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 7 Oct. 2025
Plus, Jude Law brings his movie star charisma as the swaggering pirate captain Jod Na Nawood, who helps the kids find their way back home (for reasons far from mere goodwill).
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2025
Advertisement Gudsen's fractured identity—swaggering machismo versus devoted family man—might suggest dissociative identity disorder, but Lehane resists reducing him to a clinical label.
—Jp Mangalindan, Time, 15 Aug. 2025
Schmitt is easygoing inside the Capitol and a swaggering culture warrior outside of it.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 28 Dec. 2025
Katy Perry was swaggering about in a garish new hat.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 28 Nov. 2025
Oscar Isaac‘s Victor Frankenstein is part 18th-century dandy and part swaggering Swinging Sixties rock star, as if Lord Byron had been genetically spliced with Brian Jones.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2025
On it, Sombr elevates the bedroom pop of his earlier work, giving it a more muscular, swaggering sound.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 22 Aug. 2025
With that, the trio of Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas come swaggering and smiling from the wings, strolling to the tip of a catwalk together, the professional differences that splintered their brotherly union for a spell neatly compartmentalized for 2 ½-hours of polished pop digested by adoring fans.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Needless to say, Farrell’s swaggering performance in Minority Report launched his career and was soon followed by major roles in Phone Booth, Daredevil and Alexander.
—Verb
Die a hero, or live long enough to become Gen Z’s swaggering grandfather.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for swaggering
Adjective
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Figure skater Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys) begins training for the world championships and falls for her new partner, a cocky but talented skater named Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic).—
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Marty Supreme follows a wildly gifted, unapologetically cocky aspiring table tennis superstar named Marty Mauser (Chalamet), grinding it in Lower Manhattan circa 1952.—
Verb
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In December, Brown received two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards, but the month-long honor — which would have been the first of his career — went instead to Brunson, despite Brown boasting better numbers in nearly every statistical category.—
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China, boasting well over half a billion dollars in such spending, tops the chart.—
Verb
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One of the older photographs in Gaskin’s book, from 1998, finds an impeccably suited ballroom performer strutting the boards of what appears to be a community-center gymnasium.—
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The square-jawed Iago Breschi, one of the most technically proficient classical dancers in San Diego, was in his element as the torero Escamillo, strutting with a devil-may-care swagger.—
Adjective
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Gothic visuals and bombastic performances are sure to pull horror buffs into Penny Dreadful's world.—
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Trump’s rhetoric, if unusually bombastic, even unsettling, was nonetheless bound by existing institutions.—
Verb
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Never bragging or showing off about his volunteering, Mages was always ready to give time with a smile on his face.—
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My latest headache is Dad is constantly bragging about his new wife.—
Verb
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Photos shared by the agency show Buddy prancing away in the daylight, as well as Buddy seemingly caught like a deer in headlights at night.—
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Ferrari’s latest one-off is a tribute to one of the most legendary prancing horses of them all.—
Adjective
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And his judgment of them is based on his own seeming goodness, and his refusal of the kind of boastful artifice with which Maia and Tallulah live their lives.—
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The Game of Thrones actor is the voice behind Lockhart, the boastful Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book of J.K. Rowling's beloved series.—
Verb
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After striding back to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors chambers, county staff said there was no reportable action stemming from the closed session.—
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In it, Meryl Streep as Priestly is seen striding in red heels through the offices of fictional magazine Runway.—
Cite this Entry
“Swaggering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swaggering. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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