Brogue

//bɹoʊɡ// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A strong dialectal accent, usually Irish or Scottish.

    "I had no doubt he knew where I was from, for I had the brogue, although not much of it."

  2. 2
    a thick and heavy shoe wordnet
  3. 3
    A strong Oxford shoe, with ornamental perforations and wing tips.

    "He had one pair of brogues and the soles were in a miserable state."

  4. 4
    A heavy shoe of untanned leather. dated
Verb
  1. 1
    To speak with a brogue (accent). intransitive, transitive
  2. 2
    to fish for eels by disturbing the waters. dialectal
  3. 3
    To walk. intransitive
  4. 4
    To kick. transitive
  5. 5
    To punch a hole in, as with an awl. transitive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An unincorporated community in York County, Pennsylvania.

Synonyms

All synonyms
broganbrogantwangaccentburrclodhopper

Example

More examples

"I had no doubt he knew where I was from, for I had the brogue, although not much of it."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Irish bróg (“boot, shoe”), from Old Irish bróc (“shoe, greave, legging, hose, breeches”), likely from Old Norse brók (“breeches”), from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“breeches”). The "accent" sense may instead be derived from Irish barróg (“a hold (on the tongue)”).

Etymology 2

Possibly from French brouiller.

Related phrases

oxford shoewing tip

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.