1
: having or exhibiting self-importance : arrogant
The pastor, a solemn and pompous personage immensely impressed with his own importance …—
Andrew M. Greeley
Andrew M. GreeleyHere's how to talk about wine without sounding like a pompous jerk …—Sam Dangremond
Sam Dangremond… a TV reporter … talking to us in the formal, faintly pompous tone we're used to on TV …—Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael3
: relating to or suggestive of pomp or splendor : magnificent
A delicate cascade pours leftward from a massive fragment of broken, once-pompous fountain.—John Hollander
John Hollander
pompously
adverb
a suggestion they pompously dismissed
pompousness
noun
Examples of pompous in a Sentence
So as the pictures of flooded shanties flicker by on cable news, uptight neatnik Midwestern Lutherans and sensitive northeastern urban sophisticates and pompous media grandees on both coasts express shock at the unexpected squalor of the poverty and bafflement over the slovenly corruption of the civic institutions.
—Rob Long, National Review, 26 Sept. 2005
President Warren Harding was an orator, but his bloviations were an army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea.
—Harold Evans, New York Times Book Review, 11 Nov. 2001
She never allowed her spirit to become, as, say, Henry Adams did, curdled by long exposure to Washington's tawdry and pompous aspects.
—George F. Will, Newsweek, 24 May 1999
She found it difficult to talk about her achievements without sounding pompous.
the pompous waiter served us in the manner of a person doing some poor soul a great favor
Rob Long, National Review, 26 Sept. 2005
President Warren Harding was an orator, but his bloviations were an army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea.
—Harold Evans, New York Times Book Review, 11 Nov. 2001
She never allowed her spirit to become, as, say, Henry Adams did, curdled by long exposure to Washington's tawdry and pompous aspects.
—George F. Will, Newsweek, 24 May 1999
She found it difficult to talk about her achievements without sounding pompous.
the pompous waiter served us in the manner of a person doing some poor soul a great favor
Recent Examples on the Web
Oscar Isaac plays the pompous Victor Frankenstein, though Jacob Elordi steals the movie as the tragic and eloquent Creature.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga (a rather pompous name that encompassed two major hereditary estates, a principality, a county, a marquisate, and, for a time, a viceroyalty) met in 1680 in Mexico City.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
His portrayal of a pompous, yapping intellectual who's rotten to the core rings uncomfortably true, as do the performances of Thatcher and East as their characters nonverbally communicate their discomfort to each other.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
While The Morning Show presents the news business as glossy and glamorous (and often a little pompous), The Paper takes the opposite view with the documentary crew from The Office now focusing on a dying newspaper in Ohio.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pompous
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Brian Truitt, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga (a rather pompous name that encompassed two major hereditary estates, a principality, a county, a marquisate, and, for a time, a viceroyalty) met in 1680 in Mexico City.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
His portrayal of a pompous, yapping intellectual who's rotten to the core rings uncomfortably true, as do the performances of Thatcher and East as their characters nonverbally communicate their discomfort to each other.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
While The Morning Show presents the news business as glossy and glamorous (and often a little pompous), The Paper takes the opposite view with the documentary crew from The Office now focusing on a dying newspaper in Ohio.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pompous
Cite this Entry
“Pompous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pompous. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pompous
adjective
pomp·ous
ˈpäm-pəs 
1
: making a show of importance or dignity
a pompous manner
2
: having an overly high opinion of one's importance
a pompous politician
pompously
adverb
pompousness
noun
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