humblebrag

plural humblebrags

1. informalslangAn ostensibly self-deprecating statement made to show off.First known use 20th c.

   @Humblebrag

   2010 November 28, Harris Wittels, “(username)”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2010

   5 more examples

   I am as guilty as the next wannabe Overachieving Mom when it comes to the humblebrag Christmas letter. I can’t help it. It’s in my genes.

   2015, Jen Mann, Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Yuletide Yahoos, Ho-Ho-Humblebraggers, and Other Seasonal Scourges, Random House, page 130

   Henry Alford, a commentator for The New York Times, has observed that “social media status updates are basically selfies, humblebrags, and rants.”

   2018, James D. Wright, Lost Souls: Manners and Morals in Contemporary American Society, Taylor & Francis, page 230

   I phrase my brag in humble or self-deprecating terms because social norms demand that such self-deprecating remarks be countered by denials by my guests and compliments on the perfection of the risotto. My humblebrag is thus met with the positive affirmation I was seeking but could not successfully achieve through outright bragging.

   2019, Karen Stohr, Minding the Gap: Moral Ideals and Moral Improvement, Oxford University Press, page 180

   You're the king/queen of the humblebrag on your best days, but you really need to remember your strengths and talents on your worst days to shake off your impostor syndrome and remember the badass you are.

   2021, Brianne Hogan, BuzzFeed: Joy in the Stars: Self-Care Astrology for Your Mind, Body, and Soul, Running Press, page 69

   Ditch the humblebrag. Live with sincerity beneath the shadow of God.

   2023, David R. Denny, Meditations from the Classics: Ancient Voices for Modern Listeners, Collective Ink, page 157

present singular third person humblebrags · participle present humblebragging · participle past humblebragged · past humblebragged

1. informalintransitiveslangtransitiveTo make such a statement.

   The Four Seasons even humblebragged about its failure to accommodate Buffett’s special request on its Facebook page.

   2019, Adam Chandler, Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom, Flatiron Books, page 25

   3 more examples

   After all, she writes, she was surrounded by “people who humblebragged about how little sleep they’d gotten the night before and used the phrases ‘lean and scrappy’ to describe not only our company culture, but themselves.”

   2018, Michele Lent Hirsch, Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine, Beacon Press, page 66

   Fan quickly humblebragged through her journey from reluctant computer science major to discovering a love of animation, which she studied at night in community college, despite the protestations of her Chinese “tiger parents” that she would “be poor and destitute if I followed my dreams.”

   2020, David Sax, The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth, PublicAffairs, page 24

   John the Baptist lived in the shadow of Tiberius. Many people thought John was the Messiah. After all, he commanded great crowds and had a dynamic personality. But John didn’t humblebrag. His dreams were all cradled in the heart of Jesus. No fakery or false pretensions existed on John’s stage.

   2023, David R. Denny, Meditations from the Classics: Ancient Voices for Modern Listeners, Collective Ink, page 157