Words / B / General

brandish

verb/ˈbrandɪʃ/

B2CEFR level
40/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

To wave or flourish something, especially a weapon, in a threatening way.

The intruder brandished a knife and demanded the takings.

Similar: flourish, wield, wave

Origin: From Old French 'brandir', from 'brand' (sword).

Topic: threatening gesture in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

Get words like brandish on your lock screen, a few a day, with review that makes them stick.

Download on the App Store Lexfall puts a new word on your home and lock screen through widgets, so you learn without opening an app. Free to download. After a free trial, a subscription unlocks every field. Built for iPhone, iOS 15.1 or later.
QR code that opens Lexfall on the App Store
On a computer?Scan with your iPhone camera.