bloviate
Americanverb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
- bloviation noun
Etymology
Origin of bloviate
1850–55, pseudo-Latin alteration of blow 2 to boast; popularized by Warren G. Harding
Explanation
To bloviate is to talk, but not just to chat. To bloviate means to go on and on and on and on, usually in a pompous way. Can you hear the blow in the word bloviate? That's a clue that someone bloviating is blowing some serious hot air. When someone bloviates, he is speaking in an empty, pretentious, full-of-himself manner. This word is often associated with politicians, who probably invented bloviating. When someone is talking a lot and saying a little, they're bloviating.
Vocabulary lists containing bloviate
Word Warriors: Four Years of Words Worth Reviving
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Words Coined or Popularized by Presidents
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Ben Zimmer's 30 Great American Words
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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.
"Don't expect the AG to let him just bloviate as they did in their case," he wrote.
From Salon • Nov. 29, 2023
Actors jockey, directors bloviate, writers fume at liberties taken.
From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2023
They are glib, charming, insulting, cranky, funny, learned, loud, insightful — we’re talking TV hosts here, who chat, judge, entertain, bloviate and moderate their way through popular day and nighttime shows with ease.
From Washington Times • Nov. 7, 2017
Example: It’s tough to watch them bloviate about sweeping change when our internal processes are still such a mess.
From Time • Jul. 27, 2015
Now we have to sit around all summer and listen to LeBron James bloviate about the inevitability of his wonderfulness.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 1, 2012
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.
