noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of showboat
Explanation
A showboat is someone who loves to be the center of attention, like your cousin who uses every family get-together to demonstrate her tap dancing and baton-twirling abilities. A showboat is a show-off on a grand scale, someone who very obviously wants attention. It's also a verb, often used for grandstanding athletes: "If you hadn't showboated while you were practicing your skateboard tricks, you probably wouldn't have broken your arm!" This "show-off" meaning derives from the original showboats, which were riverboat theaters that presented plays, vaudeville acts, and equestrian shows up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Vocabulary lists containing showboat
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.
He’s a showboat who dresses like Bootsy Collins and vows he’s the next Phil Collins.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
The defending champion was so comfortable he began to showboat when Nery missed, playing to the crowd as he mixed in body and head shots.
From BBC • May 6, 2024
Species tulips, sometimes called wild or botanical tulips, are the unlikely ancestors of modern showboat blooms.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2024
“Some people worried was Martin O’Malley going to be a showboat — but guess what? He turned out to be a tugboat,” Ms. Mikulski said.
From Washington Times • Nov. 2, 2023
He looked pretty good until he saw me watching him, then he tried to showboat.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
