Showing results for "grandstanding"

• present participle of grandstand.

grandstanding

American  

[gran-stan-ding, grand-] / ˈgrænˌstæn dɪŋ, ˈgrænd- /

noun

1. the act or practice of behaving or performing in a showy way in an attempt to impress others.

   With nearly 14 million unemployed, this grandstanding over such a comparatively small retraining program (only 10,000 people) is downright insulting.

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adjective

1. being or engaging in this kind of behavior or performance.

   It’s a nice, quiet movie—no guns or car chases, no grandstanding actors, and not too fast-paced.

Etymology

Origin of grandstanding

First recorded in 1895–1900; grandstand ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; grandstand ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grandstanding

Others see his comments as grandstanding meant to stoke investor excitement for what’s being sold as a godlike technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

Elon Musk has made several grandstanding predictions about when he believes humankind will reach the red planet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

Whatever the grandstanding of pundits, it can't have been an easy decision.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025

The U.S. and Malaysia have largely enjoyed warm relations over the years, notwithstanding occasional rhetorical grandstanding, especially on the part of former longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2025

What was meaningful to voters and what was just grandstanding, though, I wasn’t quite sure.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• egocentric
• egotistical
• self-absorbed
• self-indulgent
• selfish