vaunt

/vɔ:nt/

Thân thiện

He often makes a vaunt of his achievements.

Definition

1. Verb:

   • To boast about or praise (something, especially oneself) excessively and with excessive pride; to speak with extravagant self-praise.
   • To show off; to make a vain display.

2. Noun:

   • A boast; an instance of extravagant self-praise or ostentatious display.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:

  • He would often vaunt his achievements to anyone who would listen.
  • The company's advertisement vaunts the product's superiority over all competitors.
  • It is considered poor taste to vaunt one's wealth.

• Noun:

  • His speech was a long vaunt about his personal influence.
  • The empty vaunts of the challenger did not intimidate the champion.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The word often carries a critical or negative connotation, implying that the boasting is excessive, hollow, or unjustified.
• It can be used in a more formal or literary context than synonyms like "brag" or "boast."
• "to vaunt of/over something": A slightly archaic construction meaning to boast about something.
  • The general vaunted of his past victories.

Variants and Related Words

• Vaunter (noun): A person who vaunts; a boaster.
• Vaunting (adjective or present participle): Boastful; speaking boastfully.
  • He dismissed their vaunting claims as nonsense.
• Vauntingly (adverb): In a boastful manner.

Synonyms

• Verb: Boast, brag, crow, swagger, trumpet, show off.
• Noun: Boast, brag, bravado, braggadocio.

Antonyms

• Verb: Downplay, understate, belittle, deprecate.
• Noun: Modesty, humility, understatement.

Idioms and Phrases

• While "vaunt" itself is not commonly used in modern idioms, the concept is present in phrases like:
  • "Much-vaunted": (Adjective) Often used ironically to describe something that has been praised or boasted about a great deal, but may not live up to the hype.

    • The team's much-vaunted defense was easily penetrated.

Học thuật

Noun

1. extravagant self-praise

Verb

1. show off