I. ˈswagə(r), -waig- verb
( swaggered ; swaggered ; swaggering -g(ə)riŋ ; swaggers )
Etymology: probably from swag (I) + -er (as in batter )
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner
allowed … to swagger and bluster and take the limelight without a word of reproach — Margaret Mead
especially : to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence
buccaneers swaggered down the filthy streets — H.E.Rieseberg
b. : to move with a swinging motion
three or four elephants, loaded with hay, swaggered down the crowded street — L.C.Stevens
c. Scotland : stagger , lurch
2. obsolete
a. : quarrel
b. : grumble
3. : to talk in a boastful manner : brag
talks little of his experience and I ask him why he doesn't swagger more — O.W.Holmes †1935
transitive verb
: to force by argument or threat : bully , browbeat
will strive either to cheat or to swagger you out of your money — Sir Walter Scott
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : an act or instance of swaggering
his stride was majestic — just short of a swagger — Roark Bradford
insisted, with a prideful swagger — Harry Hansen
b. : arrogant or conceitedly self-assured behavior
the swagger of the brothers threatened further trouble — Hamlin Garland
had driven to the opera with the real swagger of the aristocrat — Victoria Sackville-West
c. : ostentatious display or bravado : fanfaronade
these overtures are dazzling still for their swagger and dash — Irving Kolodin
2. : a self-confident mental or intellectual outlook : cockiness
the throng so full of swagger and youth — Osbert Sitwell
poetry with all the American swagger left in — Louise Bogan
III. adjective
1. : marked by elegance or showiness : fashionable , smart , posh
swagger youths in yellow gloves — Arnold Bennett
a swagger wedding at eleven — Bruce Marshall
2. of a coat : flaring loosely and fully from the shoulder line
familiar swagger trench coat — Lois Long
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: swagger (III)
: a coat that flares loosely from the shoulder
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: swag (II) + -er
chiefly Australia : tramp