Definition of POMPOUS

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Naturally, despite an abundance of motive in Malcolm's inner circle, the easy targets here are Nick and Audrey, who quickly arouse the suspicions of the pompous French detective (Dany Boon) assigned to investigate. — Justin Chang, chicagotribune.com, "'Murder Mystery' review: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston take a European vacation," 14 June 2019 The Barber of Seville Cinnabar Theater presents Rossini’s romantic comedy opera about a savvy young woman must outsmart a pompous old lecher who stands between her and her true love. — SFChronicle.com, "Theater listings," 18 June 2019 Many critics, me among them, have lamented 550 Madison’s pompous postmodernism. — Blair Kamin, chicagotribune.com, "Tigerman's death should serve as a wake-up call: Protect the architecture of the recent past," 7 June 2019 And the media here seems to me insufferably pompous and self-regarding. — Fox News, "White House outlines strategy to combat meddling threat," 2 Aug. 2018 Enter Jake Gyllenhaal’s Morf Vandewalt (even his name is pretentious), the pompous, obnoxious art critic who has the power to manipulate the art world conversation for his own gain, making and breaking the careers of artists and dealers with glee. — Candice Frederick, Harper's BAZAAR, "Netflix's Velvet Buzzsaw Shouldn't Work—But It (Mostly) Does," 3 Feb. 2019 Here's how to talk about wine without sounding like a pompous jerk. — Sam Dangremond, Town & Country, "How to Talk About Wine Without Sounding Like a Jerk," 7 Dec. 2016 King Lear is the basic structure, if that doesn’t sound too pompous, but with magic wands. — Laura Hudson, The Verge, "Netflix shares a trailer for its first comic book," 30 May 2018 Unbeknownst to her, pompous gods of island make bet over which is stronger, love or death - stakes being girl's life. — Rasputin Todd, Cincinnati.com, "Things to do in Cincinnati this week: June 18-24," 18 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pompous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.