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brash

/ˈbɹæʃ/adjective, noun

brash is spelled B-R-A-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,789th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, brash means “Overly bold or self-assertive to the point of being insensitive, tactless or impudent; shameless” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in brash?

Letters5: B-R-A-S-H
Syllables1
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 30,789th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is brash?

Brash appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,789th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce brash?

  • /ˈbɹæʃ/
  • [ˈbɹʷæʃ]

Brash has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-brash.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of brash

  • brasher comparative
  • more brash comparative
  • brashest superlative
  • most brash superlative
  • brashes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • brashing participle, present
  • brashed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does brash mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Overly bold or self-assertive to the point of being insensitive, tactless or impudent; shameless.

    a brash young businessman; a brash tabloid; a brash sense of humour

  2. 2

    Overly bold, impetuous or rash.

  3. 3

    Bold, bright or showy, often in a tasteless way.

    brash colours

  4. 4

    UScolloquialdatedBrittle (said e.g. of wood or vegetables).

    […] brash timber, which is liable to snap; […]

noun

  1. 1

    A rash or eruption; a sudden or transient fit of sickness.

  2. 2

    A sudden burst of rain.

  3. 3

    obsoleteAn attack or assault.

  4. 4

    Leaf litter of small leaves and little twigs as found under a hedge.

  5. 5

    Broken and angular rock fragments underlying alluvial deposits.

  6. 6

    Broken fragments of ice.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo disturb.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Brash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsuffisant, m'as-tu-vu, culotté (overly bold or self-assertive), criard, tape-à-l'œil (bold, bright or showy)
Germandreist, forsch, frech, schnodderig, keck (overly bold or self-assertive), nassforsch (impetuous or rash)
Portugueseprocaz (overly bold or self-assertive)
Spanishprocaz (overly bold or self-assertive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does brash come from?

Uncertain. Perhaps from Scots brash, brasch (“a violent onset; an attack or assault”). Perhaps also related to Dutch bars (“stern; strict”), German barsch (“harsh; unfriendly”), Danish barsk (“harsh; rough; tough”), Swedish barsk (“harsh; impetuous”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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