windbag

[wind-bag]

noun

1. Also called bag of wind. Informal.,  an empty, voluble, pretentious talker.

2. the bag of a bagpipe.

windbag

/ ˈwɪndˌbæɡ /

noun

1. slang,  a voluble person who has little of interest to communicate

2. the bag in a set of bagpipes, which provides a continuous flow of air to the pipes

Other Word Forms

• windbaggery noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of windbag¹

A late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; wind ¹, bag

Example Sentences

He inhabits a space populated by right-wing windbags who have convinced each other, through endless repetition, that they are the most put-upon people in history.

Read more on Salon

Yet there he stood — noted anti-vaxxer, suspected antisemite, overexposed anti-logic windbag — in a position to hijack attention and humiliate a league that has gone to great lengths to promote social equality.

Read more on Washington Post

A beekeeper recounts his experience moving from novice to master, providing ample advice and presenting the eccentrics, oddballs and, as our reviewer, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, put it, “flagrantly self-promoting windbags” he encounters along the way.

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Its brevity made it an excellent vehicle for wit — a barb for puncturing bloated egos and windbag grandiosity.

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He knows which way the wind is blowing, and he will do his best to become a windbag that blows in that direction, whatever humiliating deflation is required first.

Read more on Washington Post