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Glite Dictionary
to come it strong

to come it strong

9.9
Speak or act in a strong, confident way, often bragging
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : hablar con confianza
  • The candidate tried to come it strong during the debate, but it sounded like boasting.

Examples

  • Don't come it strong with me!

  • He tends to come it strong when speaking about his achievements.

  • Don't come it strong—just tell us the truth.

  • He always comes it strong during meetings.

  • He tends to come it strong when speaking about his achievements.

  • The candidate tried to come it strong during the debate, but it sounded like boasting.

  • Don't come it strong—just tell us the truth.

Synonyms

to swagger
vsto come it strong
9 5.6

To walk or behave in a confident way to impress others

focuses more on forceful speech or boasting than proud display
to come on strong
vsto come it strong
  • Informal
8 6.7

To act in a confident, forceful way to make a strong impression

speaks or acts similarly but with boastful exaggeration
to acting all tough
vsto come it strong
  • Informal
1 8.2

Pretending to be strong to impress others or hide fear

shows forceful, often boastful confidence rather than trying to intimidate

Antonyms

to understate
18 5.2

To make something seem smaller or less important than it really is

How Forceful

to bluster
5 6.8
to come it strong
  • UK
9.9
to brag
191 2.7

Surface Forms

come it strong infinitive
came it strong past
come it strong past participle
coming it strong present participle
comes it strong third person singular

Morphology

come + it + strong

The components 'come' and 'strong' suggest a forceful approach, so there is a partial, predictable link to the meaning of acting or speaking forcefully. However, the insertion of the dummy pronoun 'it' and the colloquial nuance of boasting/exaggeration are idiomatic and not straightforwardly compositional, so a B1 learner who only knows the single-word meanings would likely not reliably infer the exact sense without exposure.

Etymology

Come it strong may come from the image of the words come, it, and strong, like a person coming forward and doing something loudly and confidently. That's why it now means 'to speak or act forcefully', often sounding like 'to boast'.