English Explanatory Dictionary

brat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A human child.
  2. A child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish.
  3. The qualities possessed by a confident and assertive woman.
  4. A child (at any age) of an active member of the military or the diplomatic service.
  5. A submissive partner who is disobedient and unruly.
  6. A turbot or flatfish.
  7. A rough cloak or ragged garment.
  8. A coarse kind of apron for keeping the clothes clean; a bib.
  9. The young of an animal.
verb
  1. To act in a bratty manner as the submissive.
adj
  1. Characteristic of a confident and assertive woman.
noun
  1. Bratwurst.
noun
  1. A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.
noun
  1. Acronym of bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast, the basis of a diet formerly recommended for an upset stomach.
  2. Acronym of Bradley reactive armor tile.

Pronunciation

brăt /bɹæt/ en-au-brat.ogg brŏt /bɹɑt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-brat.wav

Word forms

brat brats bratting bratted more brat most brat

Etymology

Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”), in which case it would be a doublet of brachet. Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)). In the sense "characteristic of a confident and assertive woman", coined by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX in her 2024 album Brat, though occasional earlier uses of the word with a "reclaimed" or ironic, positive connotation existed, including in LGBTQ slang for people of certain femme or feminine-leaning personalities.

Synonyms

bairn brat child chit crumb cruncher crumb crusher crumb grinder crumb snatcher fry juvenile kid kiddie little one minor mini-me moppet munchkin nipper slip small fry sprog sprout tart tot tyke youngling youngster young'un youth crib lizard crotch critter crotch dropping crotch fruit crotch goblin crotch monkey crotchling cum cheese cum pet cunt dropping fucklet fuck trophy hump dumpling pet sperm semen demon shitling sperm blossom sperm buttercup sperm bubbles bitchling terence

Related words

brat green brat summer

Derived words

army brat bratling Brat Pack brat tamer brattery brattish brattitude chequer-brat diplobrat fac brat fanbrat firebrat grandbrat military brat superbrat
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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