bumptious

adjective

bump·​tious ˈbəm(p)-shəs 

: presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive : obtrusive

bumptiously adverb

bumptiousness noun

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How should you use bumptious?

While we've uncovered evidence dating bumptious to the beginning of the 19th century, the word was uncommon enough decades later that Edward Bulwer-Lytton included the following in his 1850 My Novel: "'She holds her head higher, I think,' said the landlord, smiling. 'She was always—not exactly proud like, but what I calls Bumptious.' 'I never heard that word before,' said the parson, laying down his knife and fork. 'Bumptious indeed, though I believe it is not in the dictionary, has crept into familiar parlance, especially amongst young folks at school and college.'" The word is, of course, now in "the dictionary"; ours notes that it comes from the noun bump and the -tious of fractious.

Synonyms

• arrogant
• assumptive
• cavalier
• chesty
• haughty
• high-and-mighty
• high-handed
• high-hat
• highfalutin
• hifalutin
• huffish
• huffy
• imperious
• important
• lofty
• lordly
• masterful
• overweening
• peremptory
• pompous
• presuming
• presumptuous
• pretentious
• self-asserting
• self-assertive
• sniffy
• stiff-necked
• supercilious
• superior
• toplofty
• toploftical
• uppish
• uppity

Examples of bumptious in a Sentence

a bumptious young man whose family wealth gave him a sense of entitlement

Recent Examples on the Web

As Peggy Dodd, consigliere to her bumptious 1950s cult-leader husband, Adams tends to wear a soft smile and blouses buttoned to the neck — a picture-perfect model of mid-century femininity. —Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

It’s all spanked along by one of those golly-gee bumptious holiday musical scores. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Nov. 2024

The ländler dance in the second was robust and bumptious, with an undercurrent of darkness, and there was just the right amount of winking in the trio; the whole thing was a country fair picaresque. —Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024

Despite lines that are initially chatty and chirpy, Corden shows how bumptious his character really is. —David Benedict, Variety, 26 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

bump entry 1 + -tious (as in fractious)

First Known Use

1801, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bumptious

• scrumptious