brave
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: brāv
ipa: /bɹeɪv/
rhymes: -eɪv
Forms: form: braver
form: more brave
form: bravest
form: most brave
Etymology: From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.
Senses: examples: text: For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.
ref: 1578–1579, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. Whereof the Next Page Maketh Mention, London: Imprinted for VVilliam Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head, published 1591, →OCLC:
text: Do not fret, dear. You must be brave and strong, and help me through the horrible task. If you only knew what an effort it is to me to tell of this fearful thing at all, you would understand how much I need your help.
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
text: […]he has been so brave, giving it all a dignity.
ref: 1987, Michael Grumley, The Last Diary:
synonyms: bold
daring
doughty
orped
resilient
stalwart
antonyms: cowardly
fearful
mean
weak
glosses: Strong in the face of fear; courageous.
examples: text: Is it not paſſing braue to be a King,
And ride in triumph through Perſepolis?
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:
text: Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth.
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Plantations”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
text: It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall.
ref: 18 February 1666, Samuel Pepys, diary entry
glosses: Having any sort of superiority or excellence.
examples: text: Their plumed helmes are wrought with beaten golde,
Their ſwords enameld, and about their neckes
Hangs maſſie chaines of golde downe to the waſte,
In euery part exceding braue and rich.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
text: Wear my dagger with the braver grace.
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
text: For I have gold, and therefore will be brave. / In silks I'll rattle it of every color.
ref: 1611, John Cooke, Greene's Tu Quoque:
text: Frog and lizard in holiday coats / And turtle brave in his golden spots.
ref: 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, May-Day:
text: So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
ref: 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Making a fine show or display.
synonyms: courageous
glosses: Foolish or unwise.
Synonyms: word: adventurous
word: aweless
word: bad
word: bold
word: brass-balled
word: chivalrous
word: courageous
word: daredevil
word: daring
word: dauntless
word: doughty
word: fearless
word: fortitudinous
word: gallant
word: gutsy
word: heroic
word: intrepid
word: lionhearted
word: orped
word: plucky
word: stalwart
word: stalworth
word: stouthearted
word: unafraid
word: undaunted
word: valiant
word: valorous
word: venturesome
Derived terms: brave as a lion
braveheart
bravehood
bravely
braven
braveness
brave new world
bravesome
bravity
embrave
fortune favors the brave
fortune favours the brave
overbrave
put a brave face on
put on a brave face
stunning and brave
superbrave
unbrave
Related terms: word: bravo
word: bravura
word: badass
word: coward
word: courage
word: hero