The tutor grew up with this word.  (It was, believe it or not, sometimes directed at your correspondent!)

The word “brash” I always thought to mean “tending towards behaviour bold and challenging.”  You might imagine a few half-drunk young men showing up at a local bar, talking loudly, making daring statements, yet showing no fear of the impressions people might get.  Those young men might be described as “brash”.

Just for confirmation, I looked up brash in my Collins Essential English Dictionary the other day.  A meaning it gives is offensively loud, showy, or self-confident.

I wasn’t quite in agreement with Collins, so I looked in my Oxford Canadian Dictionary.  It defines brash as self-assertive in an overbearing way.

Next, I turned to Merriam-Webster.  One of its definitions for brash is impetuous; audacious.  It gives another based on self-assertiveness.

I’m impressed with how differently worded the definitions are.  Clearly, my ideas about brash are most similar to the Merriam-Webster interpretation.

The Oxford Canadian dictionary gives an additional, completely unrelated definition of brash:  loose, broken rock or ice.  I’ve never heard that.

In so many cases, an academic can be only as good as their sources.

HTH:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.