vaunt
verb

- to speak proudly about or praise something, especially in a way that is more than acceptable or reasonable

- to describe, praise, or display (one’s success, possessions, etc.) boastfully

Cambridge Dictionary, Collins Dictionary

WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of vaunt traces back through several languages, entering English in the 14th century from Old French vanter, meaning “to boast, speak highly of.” This, in turn, derives from Late Latin vanitare — the frequentative form of Latin vanare, meaning “to utter empty words.” The Latin vanare comes from vanus, meaning “empty, void, vain.”

So etymologically, vaunt is connected to the concept of emptiness or vanity, suggesting that boasting and self-praise were historically viewed as hollow or superficial. This link to vanity is preserved in its modern meaning of boastful or ostentatious self-praise, and it shares its Latin root with English words such as vain, vanity, and vanish, all of which carry the idea of emptiness or insubstantiality.

THE ART OF THE VAUNT: ALI vs. TRUMP

Muhammad Ali’s legendary proclamation “I am the greatest!” has echoed through decades, while Donald Trump’s declaration “I’m very highly educated. I know words. I have the best words.” is less suggestive of permanence. Both men built their public personas by vaunting their abilities, yet the difference in their approaches reveals much about effective self-promotion.

Ali’s boasting was a kind of performance art — wrapped in rhythm and wordplay: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see” — delivered with wit, charm, and a wink. Even his most outlandish claims — “I’ve wrestled with an alligator, tussled with a whale” — carried a sense of playful exaggeration.

Trump’s vaunting, by contrast, tends toward repetition rather than rhythm, relying on superlatives — “tremendous,” “huge,” “the best” — without the linguistic creativity that makes boasting entertaining. Ali’s claims were specific and visual (“If you even dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize”), while Trump’s often remain vague and abstract (“We’re going to do something really special — something that’s never been done before, and everybody knows it”).

More critically, Ali’s boasting served a strategic purpose beyond ego. As a Black athlete in the racially charged 1960s, his verbal showmanship was revolutionary — demanding respect in a society that routinely denied it to Black Americans.

Perhaps most importantly, Ali backed his words with demonstrable skill. When he predicted the round in which he would defeat an opponent — and delivered — his boasting became prophecy. Compare that to “Nobody builds walls better than me.”

— Helga & Paul Smith

SYNONYMS

acclaim, air one’s importance, applaud, bark, bask in reflected glory, be full of oneself, be in love with one’s own voice, be on a high horse, be puffed up, beat one’s breast (chest), beat the drum, blow one’s horn (own trumpet), bluster, boast, braggadocio, brag, bravado, buff up, call attention to oneself, canonize oneself, celebrate oneself, chest-thump, claim the spotlight, crow (about, over), emblazon, exaggerate, exalt, extol, flaunt, float one’s boat, gasconade, get on one’s soapbox, glorify oneself, grandstand, lionize/parade oneself, pat oneself on the back, peacock, play to the crowd, posture, preen, puff oneself up, put on airs, rave/rhapsodize about oneself, self-aggrandize, self-applauding, self-congratulate, self-glorification, self-praise, self-promote, sell oneself, show off, showboat, sing one’s own praises, sound off about, strut, swagger, swank, thump one’s chest, toot one’s own horn, VAUNT, wave one’s own banner

SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today

Say something like:
“I usually get very suspicious when people start VAUNTING their own success.”

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