pompous
Americanadjective
-
characterized by an ostentatious display of dignity or importance.
a pompous minor official.
- Synonyms:
- pretentious
-
ostentatiously lofty or high-flown.
a pompous speech.
-
Archaic. characterized by pomp, or a display of stately splendor or magnificence.
an impressive and pompous funeral.
adjective
-
exaggeratedly or ostentatiously dignified or self-important
-
ostentatiously lofty in style
a pompous speech
-
rare characterized by ceremonial pomp or splendour
Other Word Forms
- pompously adverb
- pompousness noun
- unpompous adjective
- unpompously adverb
- unpompousness noun
Etymology
Origin of pompous
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English word from Late Latin word pompōsus. See pomp, -ous
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.
Adek was a pompous twit who happened to be the son of my mother’s friend, and so occasionally we were forced to dine together.
From Literature
But as the satirically pompous, high-strung Moira Rose, the uncomfortably broke former soap opera queen and matriarch of the hit Canadian sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” O’Hara achieved universal acclaim and endless memeability.
From Salon
"BASIL!" - the unmistakable sound of Sybil Fawlty admonishing her pompous and incompetent husband, is probably how Prunella Scales will best be remembered.
From BBC
But because she’s telling the worst men what they want to hear, Stuckey has created space for herself to live out the usually male role of being the pompous bully who will brook no dissent.
From Salon
His most “persistent hater,” the pompous moralist Cato the Censor, railed at Scipio’s unseemly pride and alleged corruption.
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.
