brave

1 of 3

adjective

ˈbrāv 

braver; bravest

1

: having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : having or showing courage

a brave soldier

a brave smile

2

: making a fine show : colorful

brave banners flying in the wind

3

: excellent, splendid

… the brave fire I soon had going …

—J. F. Dobie

bravely adverb

brave

2 of 3

verb

braved; braving

transitive verb

1

: to face or endure with courage

braved the rush-hour traffic to get there

braving the elements

2

obsolete : to make showy

intransitive verb

archaic : to show courage : to make a brave show

braver noun

brave

3 of 3

noun

1

[in part borrowed from French, noun derivative of brave brave entry 1] : one with mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : one who is brave (see brave entry 1)

… none but the brave deserves the fair.

—John Dryden

specifically : an American Indian warrior

2

archaic : bravado

3

archaic : bully, assassin

Synonyms

Adjective

• bold
• courageous
• dauntless
• doughty
• fearless
• gallant
• greathearted
• gutsy
• gutty
• heroic
• heroical
• intrepid
• lionhearted
• manful
• stalwart
• stout
• stouthearted
• undauntable
• undaunted
• valiant
• valorous

Verb

• beard
• brazen
• breast
• confront
• dare
• defy
• face
• outbrave
• outface

Examples of brave in a Sentence

Adjective

She gave us a brave smile.

He lost his brave fight against the disease.

Verb

Thousands of fans braved rush-hour traffic to see the concert.

a soldier who braved enemy fire to rescue her wounded comrade

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

There’s the anxiety of finding a good costume, the pressure to brave fearsome things like haunted houses and scary movies and, of course, the struggle to nab the best candy. —Cady Lang, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024

This isn’t Moncler’s first brave move—Moncler Grenoble, the pinnacle of technical and performance design, recently unveiled its Fall/Winter 2024/2025 collection in a forest near St. Moritz, perfectly capturing the brand’s ethos. —Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024

Verb

Cruise lines offer lower prices as an incentive to brave the less predictable weather. —Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2024

While braving the Hot Ones gauntlet with costar Hugh Jackman on Thursday, the actor revealed that its team had initially planned to create and release a crappy fake movie that would play on screen for about five minutes before cutting to the actual film. —EW.com, 25 July 2024

Noun

Still, Marler braves on; he’s got his team to watch. —Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 1 June 2024

Today, with inflation running near 100 percent and an economy that could grind to a halt given a structural lack of hard currency, optimism is reserved for the brave. —Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Middle French, borrowed from Italian bravo "courageous, wild," perhaps ultimately going back to Latin barbarus barbarous

Verb

borrowed from Middle French braver "to challenge, flout," verbal derivative of brave brave entry 1

Noun

noun derivative of brave entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1568, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1590, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Noun

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing brave

• brave new world
• brave the elements
• put on a brave face
• put up a brave front
• put up a good/brave front
• the brave

Kids Definition

brave

1 of 3 adjective

ˈbrāv 

1

: feeling or displaying no fear : courageous

2

: making a fine show : splendid

brave banners flying in the wind

bravely adverb

brave

2 of 3 verb

braved; braving

: to face or bear with courage

pioneers who braved the dangers of the frontier

brave

3 of 3 noun

: one who is brave

especially : a warrior of an Indigenous people of North America