Braggadocio

 WORD OF THE DAY

braggadocio /noun / brag-uh-DOH-see-oh 

Definition
1a: empty boasting
1b: arrogant pretension
1c: cockiness
2a: a person given to arrogant boasting
2b: braggart

Examples
"The musical numbers, all penned by Miranda, slide easily from the braggadocio of '90s rap to the lilt of Harlem jazz and beyond. Miraculously, nothing sounds excessively show-tuney." 
— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 30 June 2020

"It's the first time in his life that Jack has hit anyone, but there are a lot of intangibles behind it (all those fake fights and phantom punches thrown, all that idle braggadocio from stunt men between takes), and with a beginner's luck it lands just right on the side of Petty's face…."
— Daniel Pyne, Twentynine Palms, 2010

Did You Know?
Though Braggadocio is not as well-known as other fictional characters like Pollyanna, the Grinch, or Scrooge, in lexicography he holds a special place next to them as one of the many characters whose name has become an established word in English. 

The English poet Edmund Spenser originally created Braggadocio as a personification of boasting in his epic poem "The Faerie Queene".
As early as 1594, about four years after the poem was published, English speakers began using the name as a general term for any blustering blowhard.