First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
pompous
adjective pomp·ous \ˈpäm-pəs\
: having or showing the attitude of people who speak and behave in a very formal and serious way because they believe that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people
Full Definition of POMPOUS
2
: having or exhibiting self-importance : arrogant <a pompous politician>
3
: relating to or suggestive of pomp or splendor : magnificent
— pomp·ous·ly adverb
— pomp·ous·ness noun
See pompous defined for English-language learners
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Examples of POMPOUS
- So as the pictures of flooded shanties flicker by on cable news, uptight neatnik Midwestern Lutherans and sensitive northeastern urban sophisticates and pompous media grandees on both coasts express shock at the unexpected squalor of the poverty and bafflement over the slovenly corruption of the civic institutions. —Rob Long, National Review, 26 Sept. 2005
- President Warren Harding was an orator, but his bloviations were an army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea. —Harold Evans, New York Times Book Review, 11 Nov. 2001
- She never allowed her spirit to become, as, say, Henry Adams did, curdled by long exposure to Washington's tawdry and pompous aspects. —George F. Will, Newsweek, 24 May 1999
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Origin of POMPOUS
(see pomp)
Related to POMPOUS
- Synonyms
- assumptive, bumptious, cavalier, chesty, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, huffish, huffy, imperious, important, lofty, lordly, masterful, overweening, peremptory, arrogant, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, sniffy, stiff-necked, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity
- Antonyms
- humble, lowly, modest, unarrogant, unpretentious
POMPOUSLY Defined for Kids
pompous
adjective pomp·ous \ˈpäm-pəs\
Definition of POMPOUS for Kids
: having or showing an attitude of someone who thinks he or she is better than other people <a pompous person> <a pompous manner>
— pomp·ous·ly adverb
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