chest thumping
Gorilla dominance display
Chest thumping is aggressive self-promotion or boastful display of dominance, from the gesture gorillas use to assert power.
The term usually carries a dismissive tone, suggesting the behavior is more show than substance: All that chest thumping about crime rates is just politicians posturing.
Also appears as the adjective chest-thumping: chest-thumping nationalism.
- gorillaLargest great ape
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
- alpha maleDominant group leader
- bravadoPretense of fearlessness
- machismoExcessive masculine pride
swagger · posturing · alpha · pecking order · primal · aggression · beating · pounding · Tarzan · display · show of force · intimidation · roar · power · masculinity · territorial · bluster · showoff
- swaggerswagger, strut, strutting, peacocking, cockiness
- military posturingsaber rattling, show of force, posturing, brinkmanship, brinksmanship
- arrogancearrogant, conceited, pompous, vain, haughty
chest thumpingquiet confidence
self-effacement · modesty · reserve · restraint · low-key
chest thumpingmodesty
Absence of vanity
humility · humbleness · self-deprecation · meekness · downplaying
chest thumpingsubmissiveness
Disposition to obey others
deference · self-abasement · kowtowing · yielding · capitulation
chest, thumping, chests, thump, thumps, thumped, thumper, thumpers