ostentatious
Americanadjective
-
characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others.
an ostentatious dresser.
-
(of actions, manner, qualities exhibited, etc.) intended to attract notice.
Lady Bountiful's ostentatious charity.
adjective
Related Words
See grandiose.
Other Word Forms
- ostentatiously adverb
- ostentatiousness noun
- unostentatious adjective
- unostentatiously adverb
Etymology
Origin of ostentatious
First recorded in 1650–60; ostentat(ion) + -ious
Explanation
Reach for the adjective ostentatious when you want a flashy way to say — well, "flashy" or "showy." No one wants to be described as ostentatious, a word whose cousins include pretentious, flamboyant, and gaudy. It originates from the Latin word ostentare, "to display," but in English it's often used for displays of the crass or vulgar sort. A rapper's diamond-encrusted teeth might be an ostentatious display of "bling," and someone wailing especially loudly at a funeral of a distant acquaintance might be making an ostentatious show of sorrow.
Vocabulary lists containing ostentatious
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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.
In an era of “common prosperity” and a tightening labor market for youth, ostentatious displays of wealth have become viewed as tone-deaf.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026
A Dubai restaurant has opened that prides itself on having the world's "first AI chef", the latest ostentatious dive into new technology in a city obsessed with being on the cutting edge of the future.
From Barron's • Nov. 30, 2025
Additionally, when food inflation and rising beef prices prevail, it’s hard to imagine that ostentatious couture would be at the top of consumers’ spending list.
From Salon • Nov. 9, 2025
They saw what they considered to be ostentatious displays of wealth, including travels to London, France and the Dominican Republic and scenes of Side partying on a yacht in the Caribbean.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 22, 2025
He decorated in frontier art, pored over western magazines, listened to Gene Autry on the phonograph, and motored around town in a blindingly ostentatious hot rod Studebaker roadster with a bug boy riding shotgun.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
