bravado
/bɹɑˈvɑdoʊ/
"bravado" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bravado” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,900 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,900
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A swaggering show of defiance or courage.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bravado |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹɑˈvɑdoʊ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #36,900 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bravado” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bravado is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹɑˈvɑdoʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,900 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for bravado, with forms such as "barvado", "bbravado", and "braavdo". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "bravo", "braved", "brava", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French bravade (“bragging or boasting”), from Italian bravata, from verb bravare (“brag, boast”), from bravo. Compare bravura. The correct English form is bravado, spelled B-R-A-V-A-D-O.
Definition
- 1A swaggering show of defiance or courage.
- 2A superficial show of courage.
- 3A swaggerer; a braggart.
Etymology
From French bravade (“bragging or boasting”), from Italian bravata, from verb bravare (“brag, boast”), from bravo. Compare bravura.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: barvado,bbravado,braavdo,bravaddo,bravaod,bravdao,bravvado,brravado,brvaado,rbavado
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bravado - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bravado”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-A-V-A-D-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹɑˈvɑdoʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bravo” - see the side-by-side comparison. bravado vs bravo
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.