Braw
adj.joyful, calmplayful
What it means
Fine, splendid, or attractive in Scottish English.
Reach for it when giving authentic Scottish praise for appearance or quality
The restored hall looked braw beneath its slate roof.
Choose between these
5- everyday
restrained approval suits a wide audience
not when Fine is much cooler and loses braw's regional pleasure.
- everyday
neat stylish appearance deserves familiar British praise
not when Smart can refer to intelligence or technology and may be ambiguous.
- warm
friendly regional approval should sound less unfamiliar
not when Grand varies in meaning and can suggest large scale.
- warm
delighted elevated praise fits an impressive sight
not when Splendid can sound affected and is not specifically Scottish.
- formal
solid attractive appearance rather than delicacy is meant
not when Handsome may be gendered; it praises appearance rather than excellence.
Said against
3- poor
- shabby
- unattractive
It naturally appears in
3- braw day
It was a braw day for walking above the loch.
- braw sight
The lanterns made a braw sight along the harbor wall.
- braw clothes
He wore his braw clothes for the winter ceilidh.
Where this comes from
Wiktionary categorizes braw under Scots rather than an English section. Collins verifies the mainly Scottish English adjective sense used here.
- collins, Collins Scottish adjective sense: fine or excellent, especially in appearance opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.