colloq. or slang. [f. next.] Showily or ostentationsly equipped, etc.; smart or fashionable in style, manner, appearance or behavior; ‘swell.’
1879. Cambridge Rev., 26 Nov., 103/2. Is it because the college can’t afford to have them [sc. railings] painted? Or are they having some swagger new ones, made?
1884. All Yr. Round, 18 Oct., 34/2. She becomes, according to the ideas of her class, quite a ‘swagger’ personage.
1888. Echoes fr. Oxford Mag. (1890), 111.
| Why, you’d come up a mere carpet-bagger, | |
| And though Bishops and Dons boss the show, | |
| And you think that it ’s awfully swagger, | |
| You would find that it ’s awfully slow. |
1890. F. W. Robinson, Very Strange Family, 172. Keeping you company in your swagger chambers.
1896. Marie Corelli, Mighty Atom, ii. Sir Charles was a notable figure in ‘swagger’ society.
