Crossword Dictionary
brat
brat, brats, bratty, brattish - n
a spoiled child
synonyms
youngster, kid (informal), urchin, imp, rascal, spoilt child, devil, puppy (informal), cub, scallywag (informal), whippersnapper, guttersnipe
in a sentence
She thinks I'm a brat.
It would have to be a very spoiled posh brat to be able to afford just one of the sets!
Hannah Smith plays spoilt brat, Mary Lennox, whose parents have just died from cholera in India.
etymology
c. 1500, "beggar's child" ("... wyle beggar with thy brattis ...), originally slang, from a northern, Midlands and western England dialect word for "makeshift or ragged garment;" probably the same word as Old English bratt "cloak," which is from a Celtic source (compare Old Irish bratt"cloak, cloth"). The transferred meaning is perhaps from notion of "child's apron." Hollywood Brat Pack (modeled on 1950s Rat Pack) is from 1985. Brattery "nursery" is attested from 1788.