swashbuckler

English

Etymology

From swash +‎ buckler.

Pronunciation

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Noun

swashbuckler (plural swashbucklers)

1. A swordsman or fencer who engages in showy or extravagant swordplay.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 80:

     Phillips, in his New World of Words defines, to swash, to make fly about; to clash, or make a noise with swords; and a swash-buckler, a vain glorious sword player or fencer, a meer braggadochoe, a vapouring fellow.

2. A daring adventurer.
3. A kind of period adventure story with flashy action and a lighthearted tone.

Related terms

• swashbuckle

Translations

a swordsman or fencer who engages in show or extravagant swordplay

• Finnish: miekkailija (fi)
• French: bretteur (fr) m
• Galician: espadachín m
• German: Haudegen (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sabelrasler m

• Polish: szermierz (pl) m
• Slovak: šermiar m

a daring adventurer

• Bulgarian: авантюрист (bg) m (avantjurist)
• Czech: dobrodruh (cs) m
• Finnish: hurjapäinen seikkailija
• Galician: aventureiro m, aventureira f
• German: Draufgänger (de) m
• Slovak: neohrozený dobrodruh m

a kind of period adventure story

• Finnish: seikkailukertomus
• Galician: capa e espada
• Polish: płaszcza i szpady
• Portuguese: capa e espada
• Spanish: capa y espada