show-off

[shoh-awf, -of]

See more synonyms for show-off on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person given to pretentious display.
the act of showing off.

Origin of show-off

First recorded in 1770–80; noun use of verb phrase show off

Related formsshow-off·ish, adjective

Synonyms for show-off

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1. exhibitionist, braggart.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for show-off

adventurer, stuntman, madcap, trickster, kibitzer, jester, jokester, joker, wit, comedian, clown, zany, comic, humorist, card, prankster, show-off, punster, screwball, idiot

Examples from the Web for show-off

Contemporary Examples of show-off

Even his theater-buff costars thought he was “right on the money” and “absolutely not a show-off,” despite his celebrity status.
Nine Juiciest Bits From New Bowie Biography
Lizzie Crocker
July 12, 2011

Historical Examples of show-off

Well, he'll see then that this kind of thing was all show-off, and bluff, won't he?
Alice Adams
Booth Tarkington
Once or twice, when I've paid calls with mamma, they were so fussy and show-off.
Robin Redbreast
Mary Louisa Molesworth
What a prancing, show-off, matinée fool you've made me look!
The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VI. (of X.)
Various
Does he then hang out a profession that is not true to the kernel of things, but only a show-off for impression's sake?
Studies of Christianity
James Martineau
She graduates and comes home and there are a lot of "doings" which she attends, then comes the show-off which is called a debut.
Evening Round Up
William Crosbie Hunter

Word Origin and History for show-off

1776, "a display;" see show (v.) + off (adv.). From 1801 as "a deliberate and ostentatious display;" in reference to the person who makes such a display, attested from 1924. The verbal phrase is first recorded 1793 as "make a conspicuous and obvious display." Noun showing-off is from 1874.