Bravado — A Vocabulary Story
Saima and the Mega-Splash Slide
Saima stood at the bottom of the Mega-Splash Slide, hands on hips, chin in the air.
"I've been down scarier slides than this," she announced to her brother Bilal. "Slides so tall they tickled the clouds."
Bilal raised one eyebrow. He knew bravado when he heard it. Yesterday, Saima had claimed she could eat a whole watermelon in one bite.
Bravado means a show of boldness or confidence that is intended to impress others.
"Go on, then," he said.
Saima marched up the steps, her bravado leading the way like a tiny brass band. Step one. Step two. Step twenty-three. At the top, she peered down. The pool looked very far away, like a puddle for ants.
Her legs suddenly felt like custard.
"Everything all right?" called the lifeguard.
"Absolutely brilliant!" said Saima, in her most bravado-fuelled voice, though her knees were doing a nervous little dance of their own.
Bilal climbed up beside her. "You know," he whispered, "I was scared my first time too. I held my nose and shouted my own name all the way down. It helped."
Saima swallowed. All that bravado had floated off somewhere, and what was left was just her, a slide, and a very long way down. So she gripped her nose, bellowed "SAIMAAA!" and whooshed.
The splash was enormous. Magnificent, even.
She bobbed up, grinning like a happy frog. "Again!" she shouted.
And this time, when she said the slide was easy-peasy, it wasn't bravado at all. It was completely, splashily true.
Word Definition
bravado
meaning
a show of boldness or confidence that is intended to impress others
synonyms
bluster · boastfulness · arrogance · attitude · swagger
antonyms
shyness · bashfulness · timidity
example sentence
His bravado faded the moment the real challenge began.