Meaning & use
brat
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Meanings
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A child who behaves badly, demands things and ignores rules, often because they are used to getting their own way.
Grammar: Often used with an adjective: a spoiled brat.
Patterns
- a spoiled brat
- a little brat
The brat screamed until his mother bought him the toy.
Stop acting like a spoiled brat and say thank you.
The waiter tried to stay polite to the brats at table six.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
An adult who acts in a rude, entitled or childish way, especially one who is rich or privileged.
Grammar: Applies to adults as a criticism: he is a tennis brat.
Patterns
- act like a brat
- a rich brat
The famous actor was called a brat after refusing to leave his trailer.
Don't be a brat; just apologize.
Critics dismissed the heir as a rich brat with no manners.
nouncountableinformalAmerican
A child whose parent works for the armed forces and who moves from base to base, as in army brat.
Grammar: Used as a second word: army brat, navy brat; often neutral or proud.
Patterns
- an army brat
- a military brat
As an army brat, she attended six schools before age twelve.
He is a navy brat who grew up in four countries.
Many military brats say they find it hard to say where home is.
Word forms
| plural | brats |
|---|
Common combinations
- spoiled brat
- He acted like a spoiled brat when he lost the game.
- little brat
- That little brat kicked my chair the whole flight.
- army brat
- As an army brat, he made friends quickly.
- act like a brat
- Stop acting like a brat and clean your room.
- rich brat
- People called her a rich brat, though she worked two jobs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rascal
- Rascal is milder and often affectionate, hinting at mischief rather than real rudeness.
- urchin
- Urchin is old-fashioned and suggests a poor, scruffy child, not a spoiled one.
- imp
- Imp is playful and describes a naughty but charming child, whereas brat is critical.
- terror
- Terror, as in a little terror, stresses how disruptive the child is, not how entitled.
Opposites
Word family
- bratty adjective
- behaving like a brat
- brattiness noun
- spoiled, rude behavior
- brat pack noun
- a group of young, successful and sometimes badly behaved celebrities
Commonly confused: brat or bratwurst?
brat vs bratwurst
Bratwurst is a German sausage and is unrelated in meaning, even though it begins with the same letters.
Practice
Which sentence uses brat in its most common, critical sense?
Choose one answer.
Brat is a noun for a badly behaved, spoiled child, so the first sentence is the natural one. The other options misuse it as a verb or as an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.