Meaning & use
brave
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Ready to face danger, pain or fear instead of running away from it.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a linking verb: a brave child; she was brave.
Patterns
- brave enough to do something
- brave of someone to do something
It was brave of her to speak up in front of the whole school.
The brave firefighters entered the burning building.
He was brave enough to admit he was wrong.
verbtransitive
To face something unpleasant or dangerous with courage instead of avoiding it.
Grammar: Takes an object: brave the storm.
Patterns
- brave something
- brave the weather
Hundreds of fans braved the freezing rain to see the match.
She braved the crowds to get to the sale.
Word forms
| comparative | braver |
|---|---|
| superlative | bravest |
| third person singular | braves |
| past tense | braved |
| past participle | braved |
| -ing form | braving |
Common combinations
- brave decision
- Leaving a stable job was a brave decision.
- brave face
- He put on a brave face during the hospital visit.
- brave the elements
- Hikers braved the elements to reach the summit.
- brave new world
- Students are entering a brave new world of online learning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- courageous
- Courageous is more formal and often praises moral strength as well as physical daring.
- fearless
- Fearless means feeling no fear at all, whereas a brave person may feel afraid and act anyway.
- bold
- Bold stresses confidence and willingness to take risks, not necessarily facing real danger.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: brave or brazen?
brave vs brazen
Brazen means shamelessly bold and is often negative; brave is a compliment.
Practice
Which sentence uses the verb sense of brave correctly?
Choose one answer.
The verb brave takes a direct object (the blizzard) with no preposition. The others have the wrong structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brave”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.