pomp
Americannoun
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stately or splendid display; splendor; magnificence.
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ostentatious or vain display, especially of dignity or importance.
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pomps, pompous displays, actions, or things.
The official was accompanied by all the pomps of his high position.
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Archaic. a stately or splendid procession; pageant.
noun
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stately or magnificent display; ceremonial splendour
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vain display, esp of dignity or importance
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obsolete a procession or pageant
Usage
What are other ways to say pomp?
Pomp refers to stately or splendid display, or to display that is ostentatious or vain. When should you use pomp over show, display, or ostentation? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pomp
1275–1325; Middle English < Latin pompa display, parade, procession < Greek pompḗ originally, a sending, akin to pémpein to send
Explanation
Pomp is a ceremonial display, such as you'd find at the Independence Day parade in your town, where brass bands and men and women in full military dress march to patriotic songs, while citizens wave flags and cheer. Graduation ceremonies — with gowns, invocations, speeches, and the ceremonial conferring of degrees — are full of pomp. In fact, graduates traditionally march to a tune called "Pomp and Circumstance." Pomp used to be much more closely linked to the word pompous, or self-important, than it is now — an archaic meaning of pomp is over the top, ostentatious or vain.
Vocabulary lists containing pomp
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Great Gatsby
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Othello
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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.
Beneath the pomp and bonhomie there are significant differences in what the two sides want to get out of the summit and how they perceive the U.S.-China relationship writ large.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
The Chinese were careful to appeal to Trump's love of pomp, greeting him with marching bands, soldiers in lockstep and a cannon salute that echoed through Tiananmen Square.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
I love the pomp and circumstance, so I know it’s just going to be an exciting time all around.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
How much of the pomp will translate into politics?
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
The old mass proceeded with sure, blind pomp precisely because Catholics had faith in their public identity as Catholics; the old liturgy was ceremonial because of the Church’s assumption that worship is a public event.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
