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Webster 1913 Edition


Bluster

Blus′ter

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Blustered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Blustering
.]
[Allied to
blast
.]
1.
To blow fitfully with violence and noise, as wind; to be windy and boisterous, as the weather.
And ever-threatening storms
Of Chaos
blustering
round.
Milton.
2.
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.
Your ministerial directors
blustered
like tragic tyrants.
Burke.

Blus′ter

,
Verb.
T.
To utter, or do, with noisy violence; to force by blustering; to bully.
He bloweth and
blustereth
out . . . his abominable blasphemy.
Sir T. More.
As if therewith he meant to
bluster
all princes into a perfect obedience to his commands.
Fuller.

Blus′ter

,
Noun.
1.
Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.
To the winds they set
Their corners, when with
bluster
to confound
Sea, air, and shore.
Milton.
2.
Noisy and violent or threatening talk; noisy and boastful language.
L’Estrange.
Syn. – Noise; boisterousness; tumult; turbulence; confusion; boasting; swaggering; bullying.

Webster 1828 Edition


Bluster

BLUS'TER

,
Verb.
I.
[Probably allied to blaze, blast.]
1.
To be loud, noisy or swaggering; to bully; to purr; to swagger; as a turbulent or boasting person.
2.
To roar, and be tumultuous, as wind; to be boisterous; to be windy;; to hurry.

BLUS'TER

,
Noun.
Noise; tumult; boasting; boisterousness; turbulence; roar of a tempest; violent wind; hurry; any irregular noise and tumult from wind, or from vanity.

Definition 2024


bluster

bluster

English

Noun

bluster (plural blusters)

  1. Pompous, officious talk.
    • 2013 June 22, Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
      Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
  2. A gust of wind.
  3. Fitful noise and violence.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

bluster (third-person singular simple present blusters, present participle blustering, simple past and past participle blustered)

  1. To speak or protest loudly.
    When confronted by opposition his reaction was to bluster, which often cowed the meek.
  2. To act or speak in an unduly threatening manner.
    • Burke
      Your ministerial directors blustered like tragic tyrants.
    • Sir T. More
      He bloweth and blustereth out [] his abominable blasphemy.
    • Fuller
      As if therewith he meant to bluster all princes into a perfect obedience to his commands.
  3. To blow in strong or sudden gusts.
    • Milton
      And ever-threatening storms / Of Chaos blustering round.

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams