WordWealth: bluster

blus·ter , v.i.

1. to roar and be tumultuous, as wind.

2. to be loud, noisy, or swaggering; utter loud, empty menaces or protests: He blusters about revenge but does nothing.

3. to force or accomplish by blustering: He blustered his way through the crowd.

4. boisterous noise and violence: the bluster of the streets.

5. noisy, empty threats or protests; inflated talk: bluff and bluster.

[1520–30; perh. < LG blustern, blüstern to blow violently; cf. ON blēstr blowing, hissing]

—blus'ter·er, n.

—blus'ter·ing·ly, adv.

—blus'ter·y, blus'ter·ous, adj.

—blus'ter·ous·ly, adv.

—Syn.2. rant, brag, boast, gloat. 3. threaten, storm, bully. (Random House Webster's Unabridged). Look at Thesaurus

In 1925 Ian Colvin, a British writer, wryly took note of Churchill's apparent "unsinkableness" as a politician. His impetuousness and bluster, Colvin pointed out, had played a major role in bringing about two significant British military disasters during World War I at Antwerp and the Dardanelles. Afterwards, when his efforts to run for various political offices as a member of the liberal party failed, he abandoned that party, and was rewarded by Stanley Baldwin, the new conservative prime minister, with an important position in the state department. —— Flashbacks; Looking for Mr. Churchill; The Atlantic, March 27, 2002

Still, the show, which runs two intermissionless hours, is gripping in its pure energy, its overcaffeinated bluster and its willingness to set the theatergoer's teeth on edge. That the furious pace of the show is maintained throughout is no small achievement. The actors are exhausted at the end, and the audience is battered and unsettled, signs that the production has, in no small measure, succeeded. —— Bruce Weber in Race Peers Out of Masks; The New York Times; Feb 13, 2003

Yes, we can — if we, the Russians, the Chinese and the French all take a deep breath, understand our common interests and pursue them with a little more common sense and a little less bluster. That means the Bush hawks need to realize they cannot achieve their ultimate aim of disarming and transforming Iraq without maximum international legitimacy. And the Euro-doves need to realize they cannot achieve their aims of a peaceful solution in Iraq and preserving the U.N. and the whole multilateral order without a credible threat of force against Saddam Hussein.—— Thomas Friedman in Present at . . . What?; The New York Times; Feb 12, 2003

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