fanfaron

Meanings

1. 1nouncountabledisapproving

   a person who boasts loudly about courage or skill but does little to prove it.

   Grammar: Countable: a fanfaron, two fanfarons.

   Patterns

   • a fanfaron about something

   The captain was a fanfaron who bragged of battles he never fought.

   Nobody took the fanfaron seriously after his fifth tall story.

   Every office seems to have a fanfaron who claims credit for others' work.

2. 2noununcountableliteraryrare

   loud, showy boasting, or a show of bravado.

   Grammar: Less common than the person sense; used as a mass noun for showy talk.

   Patterns

   • with fanfaron

   He spoke with fanfaron, though his hands were shaking.

   The speech was all fanfaron and no substance.

   A touch of fanfaron marked every toast he made.

Word forms

Common combinations

a loud fanfaron

He was a loud fanfaron at every dinner party.

boastful fanfaron

The boastful fanfaron promised more than he could do.

play the fanfaron

He likes to play the fanfaron when his friends are watching.

mere fanfaron

Her threats were mere fanfaron.

Synonyms and how they differ

braggart

Braggart is the usual modern word, whereas fanfaron sounds literary and archaic.

boaster

Boaster is plain and neutral, while fanfaron suggests showy, empty bravado.

blusterer

A blusterer talks angrily and aggressively, whereas a fanfaron mainly brags.

show-off

Show-off is informal and covers any kind of display, not only boasting.

Opposites

Word family

fanfare noun

a loud musical flourish, or showy publicity

fanfaronade noun

empty boasting or swagger

fanfaronading noun

the act of boasting loudly, rare

Commonly confused: fanfaron or fanfare?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fanfaron”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words