full of bluster
1
7.4
- idiom
:
lleno de fanfarronadas
- Her speech was full of bluster, leaving the audience unconvinced of her actual capabilities.
Examples
-
So I'm annoyed that math has become a weapon of mass distraction in education, a topic full of bluster and exaggeration.
Blog text (9) -
New schools arose, full of bluster if the truth be told, breaking a path for themselves by noisy demonstrations employed to pater le bourgeois.
Academic text (2003) -
The politician was full of bluster during the debate, making loud promises without any real plan.
-
He always talks about his achievements in a way that is full of bluster, but rarely provides evidence to back it up.
Synonyms
12
8.5
Using big, showy words that have little real meaning
6
7.9
Talking a lot in a rude or disrespectful way
1
6.8
Loud, forceful behavior that tries to bully other people
Talking confidently without doing what you promise
Antonyms
How Boastful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'full of' (having a lot of) combined with the noun 'bluster' (boastful, aggressive talk) yields 'having a lot of boastful, insubstantial talk.' This follows a common 'full of + noun' pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Full of bluster comes from the picture of a strong wind that blows loud but does little else, so bluster feels like noisy, empty blowing. So, if someone is full of bluster, their words are loud and threatening but have 'no real substance'.