bombastic
Americanadjective
Related Words
Bombastic, flowery, pretentious, verbose all describe a use or a user of language more elaborate than is justified by or appropriate to the content being expressed. Bombastic suggests language with a theatricality or staginess of style far too powerful or declamatory for the meaning or sentiment being expressed: a bombastic sermon on the evils of cardplaying. Flowery describes language filled with extravagant images and ornate expressions: a flowery eulogy. Pretentious refers specifically to language that is purposely inflated in an effort to impress: a pretentious essay designed to demonstrate one's sophistication. Verbose characterizes utterances or speakers that use more words than necessary to express an idea: a verbose speech, speaker.
Other Word Forms
- bombastically adverb
- unbombastic adjective
- unbombastically adverb
Etymology
Origin of bombastic
Explanation
To be bombastic is to be full of hot air — like a politician who makes grand promises and doesn't deliver. What does cotton padding have to do with the word bombastic? Bombast was cotton padding or stuffing in the 1500s. Bombastic evolved as an adjective to describe something (or someone!) that is overly wordy, pompous, or pretentious, but the adjective is most often used to describe language (speech or writing). Still not seeing the connection to cotton padding? Think of writing or speech that is overly padded and you'll understand how the meaning came about.
Vocabulary lists containing bombastic
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 7
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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.
Despite his bombastic rhetoric, Iran watchers said he has in the past demonstrated some pragmatism, which, combined with his regime bona fides, could position him as a viable interlocutor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
His campaign to sell the president has been bombastic and loud, pure hustle.
From Slate • Mar. 14, 2026
Looking at you, Avengers Campus, a half-finished land with a bombastic orchestral score and familiar, urban design that wouldn’t be out of place in downtown L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
“There’s a lot that’s so bombastic and so outrageous and so unprecedented that how do you—’Oh, I’ve got a great Trump impression, and I have him saying this.’
From Salon • Feb. 22, 2026
But Uncle Willie was suffering under our father’s bombastic pressure, and in mother-bird fashion Momma was more concerned with her crippled offspring than the one who could fly away from the nest.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
