17 April 2015
bombastic
[bom-bas-tik]
adjective
1. (of speech, writing, etc.) high-sounding; high-flown; inflated; pretentious.
Also, bombastical.
Origin of bombastic
1695-1705; bombast + -ic
Related forms
bombastically, adverb
unbombastic, adjective
unbombastically, adverb
Synonyms
pompous, grandiloquent, turgid, florid, grandiose. Bombastic, flowery, pretentious, verbose all describe a use or a user of language more elaborate than is justified by or appropriate to the content being expressed. Bombastic suggests language with a theatricality or staginess of style far too powerful or declamatory for the meaning or sentiment being expressed: a bombastic sermon on the evils of cardplaying. Flowery describes language filled with extravagant images and ornate expressions: a flowery eulogy. Pretentious refers specifically to language that is purposely inflated in an effort to impress: a pretentious essay designed to demonstrate one’s sophistication. Verbose characterizes utterances or speakers that use more words than necessary to express an idea: a verbose speech, speaker.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for bombastic
– They are quite traditionally liberal in their views–optimistic and indeed bombastic in their beliefs.
– When her narrators are bombastic, they are usually winningly bombastic.
– You are correct that my analogy was a little too bombastic.
Word Origin and History for bombastic
adj.
1704, “inflated,” from bombast + -ic. Meaning “given to bombastic language” is from 1727.
Anagram
bobcat ism
bimbo cats
a bomb tics
Today’s aphorism
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
– Epicurus
On this day
17 April 1521 – Martin Luther appears before the Diet of Worms to be questioned by representatives the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, over the alleged possession of heretical books. (Worms is a town in Germany and Diet is a formal assembly).
17 April 1961 – the U.S. government sponsor 1,500 Cuban exiles to invade the Bay of Pigs, Cuba in an effort to overthrow the socialist government of Fidel Castro. The attacks fails, resulting in the deaths or capture of all of the exiles.
17 April 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan convicted of 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He was originally given a death sentence, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. Robert Kennedy was the brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
17 April 2010 – A Manhattan library reveals that first President George Washington failed to return two library books, accruing overdue fees of $300,000. The library said they weren’t pursuing payment of the fees.