English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From bluster +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blusterous (comparative more blusterous, superlative most blusterous)

  1. Tending to bluster.
    1. (of wind) Blowing in loud and abrupt bursts.
      Synonyms: blustery, gusty
      • 1579, Thomas Salter, A Mirrhor Mete for All Mothers, Matrones, and Maidens, intituled The Mirrhor of Modestie[1], London: Edward White:
        [] wee see a strong and sturdie Oke to stande stiffe and immo∣uable against the blustrous blastes of fierce windes []
      • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native[2], Book 3, Chapter 1:
        These Sunday-morning hair-cuttings were performed by Fairway; the victim sitting on a chopping-block in front of the house [] . Summer and winter the scene was the same, unless the wind were more than usually blusterous, when the stool was shifted a few feet round the corner.
      • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 8, in Constance[3], New York: Viking, page 250:
        They had had an afternoon of blusterous tramontana, continually changing direction and force, and exploding the light snowfalls with mischievous gusts.
    2. Accompanied by strong wind.
      Synonyms: blowy, blustery, breezy, squally, stormy, tempestuous, windy
      • 1895, Kenneth Grahame, “The Blue Room”, in The Golden Age[4], London: John Lane, published 1904, page 205:
        [] it seemed entirely right and fitting that the wind sang and sobbed in the poplar tops, and in the lulls of it, sudden spirts of rain spattered the already dusty roads, on that blusterous March day when Edward and I awaited, on the station platform, the arrival of the new tutor.
      • 1928, A. A. Milne, chapter 8, in The House at Pooh Corner:
        Owl nodded solemnly. ¶ “Correct me if I am wrong,” he said, “but am I right in supposing that it is a very Blusterous day outside?”
    3. (of a person) Pompous or arrogant, especially in one's speech; given to outbursts.
      Synonyms: blustering, blustery, swaggering
    4. Characterized by strong or violent emotion; not calm, stable or orderly.
      Synonyms: stormy, tempestuous, turbulent

Derived terms

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