brash

American  

[brash] / bræʃ /

adjective

brasher, brashest

1. impertinent; impudent; tactless.

   a brash young man.

2. hasty; rash; impetuous.

   Synonyms:

   precipitate, foolhardy, imprudent, overhasty, reckless

   Antonyms:

   careful, prudent, wary, cautious

3. energetic or highly spirited, especially in an irreverent way; zesty.

   a brash new musical.

4. (used especially of wood) brittle.

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noun

1. a pile or stack of loose fragments or debris, as of rocks or hedge clippings.

2. brash ice.

3. Pathology. heartburn.

4. Scot. and North England Dialect.

   1. a sudden shower or burst of rain.

   2. any sudden, minor sickness or indisposition, especially of the digestive tract.

   3. an assault; attack.

brash ¹ British  

/ bræʃ /

adjective

1. tastelessly or offensively loud, showy, or bold

2. hasty; rash

3. impudent

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brash ² British  

/ bræʃ /

noun

1. loose rubbish, such as broken rock, hedge clippings, etc; debris

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brash ³ British  

/ bræʃ /

noun

1. pathol another name for heartburn

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Other Word Forms

• brashly adverb
• brashness noun

Etymology

Origin of brash

First recorded in 1400–50; (noun) late Middle English brass(c)he “a slap, crash,” perhaps blend of brok(e) ( Old English broc “breach, fragment, sickness”; akin to break ) and dasch “smashing blow”; see dash ¹; (adjective) in the sense “brittle” is derivative of the noun; in the sense “hasty” by confusion with rash ¹

Explanation

Brash sounds like what it means: harsh, loud, and maybe a little rude. Sometimes that’s good, like when you have a serious rash on your face and give Aunt Nell a brash warning before she showers you with kisses. There's nothing warm and fuzzy about brash. New Yorkers are sometimes thought of as the poster children for brash behavior: they can be bold and brazen. Pushy even. You might find brashness offensive, or maybe you think it's refreshingly direct. If you're a cab driver, a tough exterior might be useful, but being brash probably won’t advance your career if you work in a hotel, where you’re supposed to be polite and welcoming.

Example Sentences

After a brief pause and a side-eye, Caroline joins in the laughter - a reminder that, however brash or independent she seems, family still sits at the centre of it all.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

Kilgore from “Apocalypse Now” and two parts Henery Hawk, the short, brash Looney Tunes character that was always trying to capture the much larger Foghorn Leghorn.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

As in Rick Pitino, that swaggy, sharp-suited, knocked-around coach everyone has an opinion on, reborn at 73 in New York, New York, always his kind of brash, hate-ya-til-we-love-ya town.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

“Days of Ash” is bright and brash and loud.

From Salon • Mar. 10, 2026

Their straightforward, even brash demeanor, with its implicit assumption that everyone was on the same social level, enchanted him.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• bold
• brazen
• cheeky
• cocky
• rude