brat
/bɹɑt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.45 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- ""So... you want to have kids someday?" "Uh... well, yes. I always figured I'd have a couple brats of my own someday..." "That's still doable, you know." "I know, but the process is a lot more complicated and less intimate, and --""
- "a spoiled brat"
- "Get that little brat away from me!"
- "“But it was far otherwise wid the remainin' one, which was the ouldest; he was the most miserable, ugly, ill-conditioned brat that ivir God put life into: he was so ill thriven, that he was nivir able to stand alone or to lave his cradle; he had long, shaggy, matted, curly hair, as black as the sut; his face was uv a greenish yollow colour[.]”"
- "He would never speak a word, - only eat and cry, and she hadn't the heart to strike it or illtreat the youngster either; but somebody taught her a charm to make him speak, and then she found out what kind of a brat he really was."
- "Here are the people and the styles at the DNC that embodied the brat ethos."
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.
Origin
- Source language: Old English
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɹɑt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
brats (plural)
brats (present, singular)
bratting (participle, present)
bratted (participle, past)
bratted (past)
more brat (comparative)
most brat (superlative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
brat green
brat summer