bloviate
Americanverb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Words Coined or Popularized by Presidents
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Ben Zimmer's 30 Great American Words
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Yes, he’s paid to bloviate on college football issues.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
Actors jockey, directors bloviate, writers fume at liberties taken.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2023
This was one of those occasions when men, especially those of us in the media accustomed to our own freedom to bloviate, were best served trying to listen and learn.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2018
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
While Trump bloviated about tariffs, the Hispanic Republican Club chair nibbled on dessert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
"I wear with pride his drunken, bloviated scorn. Please don’t cry," the lawmaker joked, referencing Boehner's reputation for appearing publicly emotional at various points throughout his career.
From Fox News ● Apr. 12, 2021
What, besides the bloviated tweets that will accompany even the most modest ratings victory?
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2017
“The majority of men do it, and all would be mortified if others heard their bloviated stories.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 9, 2016
His teenage daughter has taken his doctrines to heart and wants to actually pursue the radical actions that he only bloviated about.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2016
“Hamnet,” by contrast, is to feeling what Polonius, the famously bloviating cliché-monger in “Hamlet,” is to wisdom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
The "Call Her Daddy" conversation was not the contentious tête-à-tête the chattering class has come to expect after decades of cable news bloviating somehow came to represent meaningful political coverage.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2024
So, Wednesday was just another day of well-practiced bloviating.
From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2024
Brosnahan is every bit Isaac’s rhetorical equal, calling Sidney out on his bloviating and letting us know that the marriage he envisions is not the one she’s in.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 27, 2023
His passion when bloviating was furious and terrible to look upon; but there was nothing to it more than sound and pretense.
From The Vigilance Committee of 1856 by O'Meara, James
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.
