bombast

noun

bom·​bast ˈbäm-ˌbast How to pronounce bombast (audio)
: pretentious inflated speech or writing
political bombast

Did you know?

Bombast settled softly into English in the mid-late 16th century as a textile term used to refer to cotton or other soft fibrous material used as padding or stuffing (its ultimate source is likely Middle Persian pambak, meaning “cotton”), but within a decade it had extended from literal stuffing to figurative stuffing, referring to speech or writing that is padded with pretentious verbiage. The adjective bombastic, which followed bombast a century later, has been a favorite choice to describe blowhards, boasters, and cockalorums ever since.

Examples of bombast in a Sentence

the other world leaders at the international conference had little interest in being subjected to the president's bombast you need less bombast and more substance in this speech on human rights
Recent Examples on the Web Thirtysomething Madonna had it both ways: sophisticated mega-pop depth and disco bombast. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2024 Rising above the cacophony of distractions and all of the ancillary bombast, in the middle of the emerald rectangle at the center of a stadium, Patrick Mahomes was elevating, lifting to a place where athletes become eternal. Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2024 The score is loaded with Mahler-style bombast, jazz licks and an ongoing flirtation with atonality. Scott Hocker, theweek, 5 Jan. 2024 This kind of competitive bombast helped cement E3's position as the place where the future of the console gaming market was hashed out. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023 Still, those who have been there will tell you that, for a gaming fan, there was nothing quite like the bombast and spectacle of the E3 show floor in its heyday. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023 Tirico, 56, is a suave and eloquent announcer who typically steers clear of clichés and bombast. Jody Rosen, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2023 One is full of bombast and centered on Elvis; the other is quiet and introspective, focused on a young woman in his thrall, but often left behind. Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 Some reveled in his bombast and the way Trump blithely bulldozed political norms. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bombast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "cotton or other material used as padding or stuffing," extension (with parasitic t) of bombace, bombage, going back to Middle English bombace, borrowed from Anglo-French bombés, bombace, borrowed from Medieval Latin bambac-, bambax, bombax (also banbax, bonbax) "cotton plant, cotton fiber or wadding," borrowed from Middle Greek bámbax, pámbax, going back to a Greek stem pambak- (as in pambakís "item of clothing, probably of cotton"), probably borrowed from Middle Persian pambak "cotton" (or from an unknown source from which both words were borrowed)

Note: At virtually all stages of this etymon's history there has been formal and semantic confusion with Latin bombyx "silk" and its congeners (hence the o in the English, French, and Latin forms; see note at bombazine), though the two words are very likely of distinct origin. The earliest European occurrence of the "cotton" word is pambakís, denoting an item of apparel in an epigram attributed to Myrinus (1st century b.c.e. or earlier) in the Palatine Anthology (VI, 254). In some manuscripts of Dioscorides' treatise on materia medica (1st century c.e.) bambakoeidḗs "cotton-like" is used in the description of a plant (other witnesses give bombykoeidḗs "silklike"). Greek bámbax and pámbax, as well as a derivative, bambákion, are attested in the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia Suda/Souda, which cites the epigram by Myrinus (see Suda On Line at www.stoa.org/sol/). The Medieval Latin forms are well attested in texts of the Salerno medical school, as the Tractatus de aegritudinum curatione, part of the now lost Breslau Codex Salernitanus (ca. 1200); see citations under bombyx, sense 2, in the Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch.

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bombast was in 1583

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Cite this Entry

“Bombast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bombast. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bombast

noun
bom·​bast ˈbäm-ˌbast How to pronounce bombast (audio)
: boastful speech or writing
bombastic
bäm-ˈbas-tik
adjective
bombastically
-ti-k(ə-)lē
adverb

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