ostentatious

os·ten·ta·tious

adjective \ˌäs-tən-ˈtā-shəs\

Definition of OSTENTATIOUS

: marked by or fond of conspicuous or vainglorious and sometimes pretentious display

— os·ten·ta·tious·ly adverb

— os·ten·ta·tious·ness noun

Examples of OSTENTATIOUS

1. an ostentatious display of knowledge
2. <wears an ostentatious diamond ring on his little finger>
3. The power of the government was present, in its watchmen, supervisors of the market and police force, but it did not express itself in large and ostentatious buildings. —Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 1991
4. That pompous excuse for a plush ride is a thumb in the eye to every taxpayer—and in the case of an ostentatious cost-cutter, genuine hypocrisy. —William Safire, New York Times, 2 May 1991
5. Always proud to sit down with an ice-cold beer in my hand, I was ostentatious about it in town. —Mark Helprin, New Yorker, 30 May 1988
6. She had driven to Prague from the Netherlands in her Porsche, telling friends she didn't give a hoot how ostentatious she might appear to the comrades. —Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated, 4 Aug. 1986

Origin of OSTENTATIOUS

(see ostentation)

First Known Use: 1673

Related to OSTENTATIOUS

Synonyms

flamboyant, flaring, flashy, garish, glitzy, loud, noisy, gaudy, razzle-dazzle, splashy, swank (or swanky)

Antonyms

conservative, quiet, understated, unflamboyant, unflashy

Related Words

excessive, extravagant, fulsome, hammy, overdone, over-the-top, overwrought; pretentious; baroque, bedizened, ornate; fancy, snazzy, zooty; blaring, bright, florid, glaring, glittery, overbright, spectacular; graceless, inelegant, lurid, tacky, tasteless, tawdry, tinselly, vulgar

Near Antonyms

appropriate, fitting, proper; inconspicuous, muted, restrained, subdued, toned (down), unobtrusive; elegant, graceful, tasteful; modest, plain, simple, unpretentious

See Synonym Discussion at showy

Rhymes with OSTENTATIOUS

arenaceous, carbonaceous, contumacious, disputatious, efficacious, farinaceous, foliaceous, gallinaceous, orchidaceous, perspicacious, pertinacious, solanaceous, violaceous