miles gloriosus

1 9.9

A soldier who brags about having done great deeds, often as a comic character in old plays

noun
/ˈmaɪlz ˌɡlɔːrɪˈoʊsəs/

Literature

: miles gloriosus

The play features a miles gloriosus who brags about his conquests, entertaining the audience with his absurd tales.

Examples

He has "found" Paroles to be a miles gloriosus, counterfeit traveler, and exercise dummy: "When I lose thee again, I care not."

Academic text (2005)
Paroles as a miles gloriosus, both lords Dumaine are considering news of the death of his wife, and yet no wife, Helen:

Academic text (2005)
In classical comedy, the character of a miles gloriosus often boasts about his heroic victories, but they are mostly exaggerated.
As a classic example of a miles gloriosus, he constantly inflates his achievements to impress those around him.

Synonyms

braggart

vsmiles gloriosus

Offensive

4 7.7

A person who talks a lot about themselves to show off

is a boastful soldier character who exaggerates military exploits

vaunter

vsmiles gloriosus

Archaic

1 9.3

A person who often brags about what they have done in a proud way

is a boastful soldier figure who exaggerates exploits, not just praises achievements

Gascon

vsmiles gloriosus

Offensive

9.9

A person who boasts in a loud, proud way

is the theatrical soldier type who exaggerates past heroic deeds

Antonyms

humble

238 2.8

Not proud and not thinking you are better than others

modest

83 2.7

Not thinking you are better than others and not boasting

Surface Forms

miles gloriosus singular

miles gloriosi plural

Morphology

miles + gloriosus

This is a Latin loan phrase whose constituents ('miles', 'gloriosus') are not English words and have no provided English glosses, so a B1 English learner who only knows English vocabulary would not be able to compose the meaning. The term is a fixed, literary stock-character label in English (a boastful soldier) rather than a productively compositional phrase, making its meaning lexicalized and unpredictable from the parts.

Etymology

The noun miles gloriosus comes from the Latin words miles ('soldier') and gloriosus ('glorious'), and it named a comic character in Roman plays who bragged loudly about battles he never fought. That picture of a showy, false hero is why miles gloriosus now means 'a braggart' or an arrogant, boastful soldier.