To Act Big
To Be Arrogant, To Be Bossy
intransitive verb, godan verb
Take your dignity and stretch it. Your dignity is so stretched! That makes you feel big! That's why this word is to act big or to be arrogant.
The reading is from 威 and 張る. Just watch out for the rendaku that changes the 張る reading to ばる. Here's a little mnemonic to help with that:
If you're trying to act big, you should shout baa (ば) at people like a sheep. Why? Because sheep are known to be arrogant. Their "baa" is like an arrogant little laugh, don't you think? Baa, baa! That's why it's good to copy them and say "baa" when you want to act big and push people around.
ケンイチは会社のトップのような顔をして威張ってる。
Kenichi acts like the top dog of the company and he's being really arrogant.