different between debonair vs swaggering

English

Alternative forms

• debonaire, debonnaire

Etymology

Old French debonaire, from the phrase de bon aire "of good stock, noble".

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?b??ne?(?)/
• (US) enPR: d?b-?-n?r', IPA^(key): /d?b??n??/

Adjective

debonair (comparative more debonair, superlative most debonair)

1. (obsolete) Gracious, courteous.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vi:

     Let be that Ladie debonaire, / Thou recreant knight, and soone thy selfe prepaire / To battell [...].

2. Suave, urbane and sophisticated.
3. (especially of men) Charming, confident, and carefully dressed.

Translations

Noun

debonair

1. (obsolete) Debonaire behaviour; graciousness.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 31:

     But yet, shall my vanity extend only to personals, such as the gracefulness of dress, my debonnaire, and my assurance—Self-taught, self-acquired, these!

Anagrams

• diborane

English

Verb

swaggering

1. present participle of swagger

Adjective

swaggering (comparative more swaggering, superlative most swaggering)

1. Boastful, proud, self-confident.

Synonyms

• proud

Antonyms

• mincing

Noun

swaggering (plural swaggerings)

1. Boastful, blustering behaviour.
   • 1814, George Cruikshank, Robert Cruikshank, The Spirit of the Public Journals

     Since the return of the redoubtable head of the French people to Paris, I have been no less amused by his ill-digested boastings and swaggerings, than I was before delighted by the complete discomfiture of his ambitious plans.