brat

plural brats

1. countableslanguncountableusually negative connotationA 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 --"

   2012 March 2, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Mar 2, 2012

   Synonyms: bairn, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry

   1. countablederogatoryslanguncountableusually negative connotationA child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish.

      a spoiled brat

      3 more examples

      Get that little brat away from me!

      “But it was far otherwise wid the remainin' one, which was the ouldest; he was the most miserable, ugly, ill-conditioned brat that ivir God put life into: he was so ill thriven, that he was nivir able to stand alone or to lave his cradle; he had long, shaggy, matted, curly hair, as black as the sut; his face was uv a greenish yollow colour[.]”

      1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 522

      He would never speak a word, - only eat and cry, and she hadn't the heart to strike it or illtreat the youngster either; but somebody taught her a charm to make him speak, and then she found out what kind of a brat he really was.

      1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 297

      Synonyms: bairn, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry

   2. neologismslanguncountableusually negative connotationThe qualities possessed by a confident and assertive woman.

      Here are the people and the styles at the DNC that embodied the brat ethos.

      2024 August 23, Lauren Bulbin, Annaliese Nurnberg, “The best brat styles of DNC”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2024

      2 more examples

      Brat is being lazy until 10 P.M., at which point you construct a château using discarded scraps of pleather, finish it by morning, and immediately win the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

      2024 August 26, Lena Dunham, “A Guide to Brat Summer”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2024

      My favorite touch is how each of her Nike shoes has its own little bow, which is just the perfect amount of brat.

      2024 August 27, Brooke LaMantia, “Naomi Osaka Is Having a Brat U.S. Open”, in The Cut, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2024

      Synonyms: bairn, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry

   3. countableslanguncountableusually negative connotationA child (at any age) of an active member of the military or the diplomatic service.

      an army brat

      1 more example

      Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, Commander of the Fourth Army, was an army “brat,” which means his father was an army officer. But he went into the army from Princeton, not from West Point.

      1941 June 5, Gerry Dick, “They Practiced Art of War, Then They Studied It”, in Hope Star, Hope, Arkansas, page 5

      Synonyms: bairn, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry

   4. countableslanguncountableusually negative connotationBDSMA submissive partner who is disobedient and unruly.

      Synonyms: bairn, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry

2. broadlycountablederogatoryuncountableAn immature, spoiled and/or selfish person.
3. countableuncountableA turbot or flatfish.

   For the crabby awd dealers in ling, cod, and brats / And the vurgins that tempt us wi' nice maiden skyet...

   1843, Thomas Wilson, The Movement^([The Pitman's Pay: And Other Poems])

4. countablehistoricaluncountableA rough cloak or ragged garment.

   The chief's daughter wears a brat and léine girdled with a criss.

   1961, Audrey I. Barfoot, Everyday costume in Britain: from the earliest times to 1900, page 80

   2 more examples

   The prevailing style of dress in the early medieval period comprised a léine (tunic) worn under a brat (cloak).

   2005, Seán Duffy, Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 156

   Women wore loose, flowing, ankle-length robes modelled on 11th-century European fashion (derived from what O'Neill called the léine) and, perhaps, a brat over these.

   2006, Celtic Culture: A-Celti, →ISBN, page 1272

5. ScotlandUKcountabledialectalobsoleteuncountableA 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".

   1882, John Strathesk, “pp. 135”, in Blinkbonny^([The English Dialect Dictionary... brat])

6. countableobsoleteuncountableThe young of an animal.

   They are your Will-Worship-men, your Prelates Brats: Take the whole Litter of’um, and you’ll finde never a barrel better Herring.

   1680, Roger L'Estrange, Citt and Bumpkin

   1 more example

   Their ſhoulders broad, for complet armour fit, Their lims more large and of a bigger ſize Than all the brats yſprong from Typhons loins:

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii

present singular third person brats · participle present bratting · participle past bratted · past bratted

1. intransitiveBDSMTo act in a bratty manner as the submissive.

   Rather, Ana moves between playful bratting and a type of “conquer me” wantedness that good Dominants would respond to with increased control and correction.

   2020, Jessica M. Kratzer, Communication in Kink, page 43

   1 more example

   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 […]

   2021, Ardie Stallard, Switch: A Tale of Spanking, BDSM & Romance

comparative more brat · superlative most brat

1. neologismbriefly popular in 2024; otherwise rare; briefly popular in 2024; otherwise rareCharacteristic of a confident and assertive woman.

   [see title]

   2025 May, Austin Ulmer, Ideology Is Brat: Popular Music As Discourse in the 2024 US Presidential Election

   5 more examples

   kamala IS brat

   2024 July 21, @charli_xcx [Charli XCX], Twitter, archived from the original on 24 Jul 2024

   Starmer's Tory predecessors Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss were identified as brat by 15 percent each of those asked.

   2024 August 13, Noah Keate, “It's official: Boris Johnson is brat”, in Politico, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2024

   Kamala Harris herself was anointed as "brat" the moment that Joe Biden stepped down, but already Harris's mother – who had Indian heritage and raised Harris as a single parent – has been declared the uberbrat, more brat than even her daughter.

   2024 August 26, Nesrine Malik, “'Brat' Kamala or 'dragon mother' Pelosi? This meme machine is a risky strategy in a high-stakes election”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2024

   '[…] is brat’ was applied to a host of different entities. The latter reached its height when Charli XCX herself tweeted in July 2024 that US presidential candidate ‘kamala [Harris] IS brat' […]

   [2026, L. Bendfeldt, Peace is brat: NATO, digital militarism, and the absurd

   Habeck later reposted fan‐made videos using slogans like “Green is brat,” demonstrating bottom‐up to top‐down incorporation.

   [2026, M Bösch, “TikTok Edits, Vibes, Audio Memes: Participatory Propaganda in the 2025 German Federal Election Campaign”, in Media and Communication

plural brats

1. countableinformaluncountableBratwurst.

   What’s the can’t-miss food? / Brat or sausage. […] — Tom G.

   2024 September 1, Matt Schneidman, The Athletic Staff, “Lambeau Field guide: What to know about the Green Bay Packers’ home stadium”, in The Athletic, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Sep 2024

   1 more example

   There are many people loitering, eating ice cream, talking, eating brats.

   2020, Brandon Taylor, Real Life, Daunt Books Originals, page 267

plural brats

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

1. abbreviationacronymuncountableAcronym of bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast, the basis of a diet formerly recommended for an upset stomach.

   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.

   2015 March 31, Linda Melone, “The worst foods to eat when you’re sick, and the best ones”, in CNN

2. USabbreviationacronymuncountablegovernmentAcronym of Bradley reactive armor tile.