ostentatious
adjective
Albert Hourani
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Showy, pretentious, and ostentatious all mean "given to outward display," but there are subtle differences in their meanings. Showy implies an imposing or striking appearance, but usually also implies cheapness or bad taste. Pretentious suggests an appearance of importance not justified by a thing's value or a person's standing. Ostentatious is the biggest show-off, stressing the vanity of the display. English speakers derived ostentatious from the noun ostentation, which can be traced back, via Middle French, to the Latin verb ostentare (meaning "to display"), a frequentative form of the verb ostendere, meaning "to show."
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How is ostentatious used?
Ostentatious comes from a Latin word meaning "display," and the idea of display is still very apparent in the English word as it is currently used.
People and things described as ostentatious seem to have put themselves on display; they are practically begging to be looked at. The word is not compliment.
Ostentatious is often applied to buildings that can also be described as luxurious—mansions, fancy high-rises, huge houses with marble columns. Sometimes the description appears in the negative, as when we're told that a house is large, but not ostentatious, which means that it's large but not in a way that calls attention to itself. When the word is applied to objects like clothes and jewelry, the idea is the same: such items attract attention for the luxury they imply.
People who are described as ostentatious—or who have lifestyles described as such—typically are seen as spending money in a way that makes it clear that they have a lot of it. Their consumption may also be described with the word, in which case the emphasis is on the impressive things they buy.
Less often, ostentatious is applied to what attracts attention not because of an implied luxury but because of some other quality. Someone's boastful declarations about volunteer work may be described, for example, as ostentatious.
Examples of ostentatious in a Sentence
William Safire, New York Times, 2 May 1991
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
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
an ostentatious display of knowledge
wears an ostentatious diamond ring on his little finger
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025
The somewhat muted display represented Lamar at his most physically ostentatious.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 7 June 2025
Sure, its plumage may not be as big or ostentatious as the peacock’s – though, to be fair, ostentatiousness is an important quality as these feathers have evolved to capture the attention of potential mates.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
In short, an ostentatious action game with a fascinating setting and stunning visuals.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ostentatious
Cite this Entry
“Ostentatious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostentatious. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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ostentatious
adjective
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