brave

A2 Topic:Describing People

US /breɪv/ UK /bɹeɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #1743

Meanings

1

adj
Showing courage when facing danger, difficulty, or pain.

It was very brave of her to rescue the cat from the fire.
2

verb
To face something difficult or dangerous with courage.

They braved the storm to reach the village.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing courage when facing... bold daring courageous

2 verb · to face something difficult... endure weather

More adventurousawelessbadbrass-balledchivalrous daredevil dauntless doughty fearless

Opposites

afraid cautious cowardly fearful frightened meek shy timid uncourageous unhearty

Word family

Forms bravedbraverbravesbravestbraving

Derived forms braveheartbravehoodbravelybravenbravenessbraverbravesomebravityembraveoutbraveoverbravesuperbrave

Related forms badassbravado bravery bravo bravura courage coward hero

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Brave entered English in the late 15th century through French, from Italian or Spanish bravo, and ultimately goes back to Latin barbarus, also the source of barbarian. Scots braw and the words bravado, bravo, and bravura share this origin. Brave formerly also meant ‘grand, fine, excellent’, the sense used in Shakespeare’s phrase ‘brave new world’.

Etymology

From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.

brave Middle French bravo Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People

External links

# brave

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /breɪv/
**IPA (UK):** /bɹeɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 1743

## Meanings
1. Showing courage when facing danger, difficulty, or pain.
2. To face something difficult or dangerous with courage.

## Examples
- It was very brave of her to rescue the cat from the fire.
- They braved the storm to reach the village.

## Synonyms
- adventurous
- aweless
- bad
- bold
- brass-balled
- chivalrous
- courageous
- daredevil
- daring
- dauntless
- doughty
- fearless

## Antonyms
- afraid
- cautious
- cowardly
- fearful
- frightened
- meek
- shy
- timid
- uncourageous
- unhearty

## Derived Forms
- braveheart
- bravehood
- bravely
- braven
- braveness
- braver
- bravesome
- bravity
- embrave
- outbrave
- overbrave
- superbrave

## Related Forms
- badass
- bravado
- bravery
- bravo
- bravura
- courage
- coward
- hero

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brave
- Root: bravo

## Etymology
From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.

## AI Etymology
Brave comes from Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.

## Topics
- Describing People

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