ostentation
Americannoun
-
pretentious or conspicuous show, as of wealth or importance; display intended to impress others.
- Synonyms:
- extravagance, pretense, pretension, affectation
-
Archaic. the act of showing or exhibiting; display.
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say ostentation?
Ostentation is the pretentious or conspicuous showing of one’s wealth or importance. How does ostentation compare to show, display, and pomp? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ostentation
1425–75; late Middle English ostentacioun < Middle French ostentation < Latin ostentātiōn- (stem of ostentātiō ), equivalent to ostentāt ( us ) past participle of ostentāre to display, exhibit, frequentative of ostendere to present, display (equivalent to os-, var of ob- ob- + ten ( dere ) to stretch + -t- frequentative suffix + -ātus -ate 1 ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Ostentation is a pretentious or showy display (gaudy or flashy), usually designed to attract attention. Ostentation is a woman in a fur coat, covered in diamond jewelry, boarding a gold-plated private jet. The noun ostentation stems from the Latin word ostentationem, meaning "vain display." It is often associated with material items that showcase one's wealth and luxury. Ostentation might come to the minds of the other parents if you drive a Lamborghini to drop your kids off at school. A movie star's gas-guzzling, 400-foot yacht may also be considered by many as a symbol of ostentation.
Vocabulary lists containing ostentation
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Pride and Prejudice
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Heart of Darkness
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ostentation triumphed along the lower Mississippi, where Louisiana sugar planter John Andrews built his 75-room mansion Belle Grove in the late 1850s to overshadow neighboring Nottoway with its 64 rooms.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
Ostentation born of insecurity remains an undeniable fact, and Miami is its monument; but there is now enough old money and new taste in the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
That I may be preserved from Atheism, and Infidelity, Impiety and Profaneness, and in my Addresses to thee carefully avoid Irreverence and Ostentation, Formality and odious Hypocrisy.
From The True Benjamin Franklin by Fisher, Sydney George
Ostentation is, as yet, too prominent in the entertainments of the rich; and the not rich, with republican pride, will rather renounce the pleasures and advantages of society than receive company in an inexpensive way.
From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851 by Various
There Alexius Comnenus gave him a magnificent reception, which he tried to requite by equal Ostentation, repeating Robert of Normandy's invention of the golden horse-shoes.
From Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
