rodomontade
playrhodomontade
Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
rodomontade was our Word of the Day on 03/25/2008. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Examples of rodomontade in a Sentence
for all of its jingoistic rodomontade, the government had no thought-out plan for the war and its aftermath
Did You Know?
Rodomontade (which can also be spelled "rhodomontade") originated in Italian poetry. Rodomonte was a fierce and boastful king in Orlando Innamorato, Count Matteo M. Boiardo's late 15th century epic, and later in the sequel Orlando Furioso, written by poet Lodovico Ariosto in 1516. In the late 16th century, English speakers began to use "rodomont" as a noun meaning "braggart." Soon afterwards, "rodomontade" entered the language as a noun (meaning "empty bluster" or "bragging speech") and later as an adjective (meaning "boastful" or "ranting"). The noun "rodomont" is no longer used in English, but "rodomontade" is still with us.
Origin and Etymology of rodomontade
French, from Middle French, from rodomont blusterer, from Italian Rodomonte, character in Orlando Innamorato by Matteo M. Boiardo
Other Literature Terms
Learn More about rodomontade
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up rodomontade? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!