brave
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- courageous, bold, daring, fearless, heroic, intrepid, plucky, resolute, valiant
[verb]
Synonyms:
- confront, defy, endure, face, stand up to, suffer, tackle, withstand

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Antonyms: cowardly, craven
Contrasted words: cringing, flinching, frightened, pusillanimous, scared, shrinking, timid, chickenhearted, fainthearted, lily-livered, nerveless, soft, spineless, unmanly, weakhearted, weak-kneed, yellow, avoid
Related Words: daring, defiant, gritty, hardy, mettlesome, resolute, spirited, steadfast, unapprehensive, undismayed, unflinching, unfrightened, unquailing, unshrinking, unswerving, unwincing, unyielding, venturesome, chivalrous, noble, preux, confident

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English Thesaurus: brave, courageous, daring, bold, intrepid, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. brave¹ S3 /breɪv/ adjective (comparative braver, superlative bravest)
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: French; Origin: Old Italian and Old Spanish bravo 'brave, wild', from Latin barbarus; ⇒ barbarous]

1.
a) dealing with danger, pain, or difficult situations with courage and confidence Synonym : courageous:
brave soldiers
her brave fight against cancer
it is brave of somebody (to do something)
It was brave of you to speak in front of all those people.
b) the brave [plural] brave people:
Today we remember the brave who died in the last war.

2. very good:
Despite their captain’s brave performance, Arsenal lost 2–1.
brave effort/attempt
the brave efforts of the medical staff to save his life

3. put on a brave face/front to pretend that you are happy when you are really very upset

4. brave new world a situation or a way of doing something that is new and exciting and meant to improve people’s lives:
the brave new world of digital television
—bravely adverb:
She smiled bravely.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. brave² verb [transitive]

1. to deal with a difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant situation:
I decided to take the train to work rather than brave the traffic.
brave the elements/weather etc (=go out in bad weather)
More than 100 people braved the elements and attended the rally.

2. brave it out to deal bravely with something that is frightening or difficult

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. brave³ noun
[countable] a young fighting man from a Native American tribe

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

brave
adj.
VERBS be, feel, seem, sound | make sb The whisky had made me brave.
ADV. exceptionally, extremely, really, terribly, very | quite | amazingly, incredibly

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

brave showing that you are not afraid to do things that other people find dangerous or difficult:
I think he was incredibly brave to do a parachute jump.
a brave attempt to change the system
courageous /kəˈreɪdʒəs/ especially written very brave – used especially about someone fighting for what they believe in, or fighting against a disease:
a courageous speech
her courageous fight against cancer
daring brave and willing to take a lot of risks:
a daring escape from a prison camp
a daring fighter pilot
a daring thing to do
bold willing to make difficult decisions or say what you think, even though it may involve risks:
It was a bold move to set up his own company.
She was very bold in criticizing the leadership.
intrepid written willing to do dangerous things or go to dangerous places:
an intrepid traveller
We sent our intrepid reporter to find out what is happening.
adventurous used about someone who enjoys going to new places and doing new, possibly dangerous, things:
More adventurous visitors can go skiing or snowboarding.
fearless not afraid of anything or anyone:
a fearless campaigner for human rights
heroic very brave and admired by many people:
heroic rescuers
Despite heroic efforts to save him, he died.
plucky brave and determined – often used in newspapers:
Plucky Megan, aged 10, has beaten cancer twice.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

stupid showing a total lack of good sense or good judgment. Stupid sounds very strong and is often used when you are annoyed or strongly criticizing someone’s behaviour:
I wish you’d stop asking stupid questions.
It was stupid of me to leave the door unlocked.
Well, if you’re stupid enough to skate on the lake, you deserve to fall in.
silly doing or saying things that are not sensible or serious, and that may make you feel embarrassed later. Silly sounds much gentler than stupid:
a silly mistake
Don’t be so silly! There’s nothing wrong with you.
I think you’re silly to worry so much about your hair.
daft informal not sensible, often in a way that is also amusing:
Is this another of your daft ideas?
Don’t be daft! Of course you’re not too old to go clubbing.
dumb informal especially American English stupid:
a dumb question
He was dumb enough to believe her.
Oh, I just did the dumbest thing back there, I forgot my purse.
foolish stupid. Foolish sounds rather formal and is used mainly in written English. The usual words to use in everyday English are silly or stupid:
It was a foolish thing to say.
They did not want to look foolish.
It was all a foolish dream.
I think the board of directors made a foolish choice that it will later regret.
unwise formal done without thinking carefully enough about the possible disadvantages that may result:
She knew the marriage was unwise.
an unwise choice of words
It would be very unwise to speculate.
brave British English often humorous used when you think that what someone is planning or suggesting is certain to fail, but you do not want to say directly that they are behaving in a stupid way:
The leader of the opposition described it as ‘a brave decision.’
I think he’s being very brave.
crazy not at all sensible or reasonable – used when you are very surprised by someone’s behaviour or what they have said:
Ian’s got some crazy plan to drive across Africa.
She looked at me as if I was crazy!
You’re crazy to think of hitch-hiking on your own.
ridiculous extremely stupid:
You look ridiculous in that hat.
Some people spend a ridiculous amount of money on cars.
It’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest that he would do something like that.
absurd/ludicrous extremely stupid – used especially when an idea or situation seems strange or illogical:
How can a return ticket cost less than a single? It’s totally absurd!
It was a ludicrous idea.
Some of the objections to the theory are simply absurd.
laughable so stupid that you cannot believe someone is telling the truth or being serious:
The accusations were almost laughable.
a laughable suggestion
It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲