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all bark and no bite

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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all bark and no bite (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic) Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
  2. (idiomatic) Often making cutting remarks, but having a gentle personality underneath.
  3. (idiomatic) Aggressive but never combative.
    • 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.1, at p.28:
      The phrase "all bark, no bite" could have been coined for our mutts; couple of wimps, those two.

Translations

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See also

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