Join free

BRAT

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

brat¹

  • /bɹæt/

Sounds like Bratt · Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”), in which case it would be a doublet of brachet. Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)).

In the sense "characteristic of a confident and assertive woman", coined by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX in her 2024 album Brat, though occasional earlier uses of the word with a "reclaimed" or ironic, positive connotation existed, including in LGBTQ slang for people of certain femme or feminine-leaning personalities.

noun brats

  1. countable, slang, uncountable A human child. "So... you want to have kids someday?" "Uh... well, yes. I always figured I'd have a couple brats of my own someday..." "That's still doable, you know." "I know, but the process is a lot more complicated and less intimate, and --"
  2. countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable A child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish. a spoiled brat
  3. neologism, slang, uncountable The qualities possessed by a confident and assertive woman. Here are the people and the styles at the DNC that embodied the brat ethos.
  4. countable, slang, uncountable A child (at any age) of an active member of the military or the diplomatic service. an army brat
  5. countable, slang, uncountable A submissive partner who is disobedient and unruly.
  6. broadly, countable, derogatory, uncountable An immature, spoiled and/or selfish person.
  7. countable, uncountable A turbot or flatfish. For the crabby awd dealers in ling, cod, and brats / And the vurgins that tempt us wi' nice maiden skyet...
  8. countable, historical, uncountable A rough cloak or ragged garment. The chief's daughter wears a brat and léine girdled with a criss.
  9. Scotland, UK, countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable A coarse kind of apron for keeping the clothes clean; a bib. [She] had still on the rough worsted apron of nappy homespun wool, called a "brat".
  10. countable, obsolete, uncountable The young of an animal. Their ſhoulders broad, for complet armour fit, Their lims more large and of a bigger ſize Than all the brats yſprong from Typhons loins:

verb brats · bratting · bratted

  1. intransitive To act in a bratty manner as the submissive. Ruthie was Ed's own submissive, a short, pretty, feisty ash-blonde New York City native who combined her submission to Ed with a good deal of mischievous bratting and a lot of sharp, intelligent conversation […]

adjective more brat · most brat

  1. neologism Characteristic of a confident and assertive woman. kamala IS brat

brat²

  • /bɹɑt/ US

Rhymes with -ɒt

Where it comes from

Clipping of bratwurst, from German Bratwurst.

noun brats

  1. countable, informal, uncountable Bratwurst. There are many people loitering, eating ice cream, talking, eating brats.

brat³

noun brats

  1. A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.

BRAT⁴

noun

  1. abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast, the basis of a diet formerly recommended for an upset stomach.bananas For diarrhea caused by a stomach virus or a meal that didn’t agree with you, try the BRAT diet, says James Lee, MD, gastroenterologist with St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif.
  2. US, abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of Bradley reactive armor tile.Bradley reactive armor tile

Talk about this word