Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To blow in loud, violent gusts, as the wind during a storm.
- intransitive verb To speak in a loudly arrogant or bullying manner.
- intransitive verb To brag or make loud, empty threats.
- intransitive verb To force or bully with swaggering threats.
- noun A violent, gusty wind.
- noun Turbulence or noisy confusion.
- noun Loud, arrogant speech, often full of empty threats.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To roar and be tumultuous, as wind; blow boisterously: as, the storm blusters without.
- To be loud, noisy, or swaggering; swagger, as a turbulent or boasting person; utter loud empty menaces or protests.
- [Only in ME.; perhaps a different word. Cf. LG. blustern, blistern, flutter in alarm.] To wander or run about aimlessly.
- To compel or force by mere bluster.
- To utter with bluster, or with noise and violence: generally with out or forth.
- noun The noise of a storm or of violent wind; a blast; a gust.
- noun A boisterous blast, or loud tumultuous noise.
- noun Noisy but empty talk or menace; swagger; boisterous self-assertion.
- noun Synonyms Turbulence, boasting, bragging, bullying.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To blow fitfully with violence and noise, as wind; to be windy and boisterous, as the weather.
- intransitive verb To talk with noisy violence; to swagger, as a turbulent or boasting person; to act in a noisy, tumultuous way; to play the bully; to storm; to rage.
- transitive verb To utter, or do, with noisy violence; to force by blustering; to bully.
- noun Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.
- noun Noisy and violent or threatening talk; noisy and boastful language.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Pompous ,officious talk . - noun A
gust ofwind . - noun
Fitful noise and violence. - verb To
speak orprotest loudly. - verb To act or speak in an unduly threatening manner.
- verb To
blow in strong orsudden gusts .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a swaggering show of courage
- noun a violent gusty wind
- verb blow hard; be gusty, as of wind
- noun vain and empty boasting
- verb show off
- verb act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
- noun noisy confusion and turbulence
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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When he got older, when he turned into a fully mature male, I used the word bluster for lack of a better one.
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MALVEAUX: Well, you know, this is really -- they have heard this kind of what they refer to as bluster before, the kind of very dramatic language by the president -- and rather the insulting language as well.
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Also, the mess with the various watch lists are all left over from the Bush administration that was more interested in bluster than dealing with the hard problems they were faced with.
Ridge: Terror suspect doesn't deserve 'full range' of rights 2009
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On the pulse Mr Prescott, I think not; it's the usual bluff and bluster from a man who might actually be less intelligent than he seems.
Bluster and bluff from John Prescott Not a sheep 2009
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This bluster is not going to fool anyone ... with any sense.
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And the great thing about conservative bluster is that it ages so well. checkinout Says:
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But, even taking into account the feckless expediency of his "get out now" rhetoric, Obama has shown a more sophisticated strategic intelligence than McCain has (and Hillary Clinton has, too) ... and no amount of bluster from the McCain camp can change that.
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There was a lot of bluster from the Chinese police but I didn't feel much actual serious threat.
'Excessive Response' 2008
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All the Republicans’ talk and bluster is meaningless so long as the bill passes.
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All the Republicans’ talk and bluster is meaningless so long as the bill passes.
Comments
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