as in rhetorical
marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases
a bombastic speech intended to impress the voters in her congressional district
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Recent Examples of bombastic
Tasked with choreographing a multitude of stunts for the cast’s more bombastic moments across the final season was Emmy award winning stunt coordinator Hiro Koda, who also recently snagged an Actor Awards nomination for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.
—
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 24 Feb. 2026
Find yourself a series that does a bombastic operatic flourish at its midseason cliffhanger (with actual opera) and drops Tennessee Ernie Ford in its season finale.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Feb. 2026
During the Biden administration, Patel, a bombastic podcaster, had repeatedly lambasted Wray for using the FBI plane for personal travels and even suggested that the jet be grounded.
—Eric Tucker, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
There’s been a quiet but persuasive strain of Americana threading through NYFW, not the bombastic, flag-waving kind, but something more intimate and lived-in.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bombastic
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 24 Feb. 2026
Find yourself a series that does a bombastic operatic flourish at its midseason cliffhanger (with actual opera) and drops Tennessee Ernie Ford in its season finale.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Feb. 2026
During the Biden administration, Patel, a bombastic podcaster, had repeatedly lambasted Wray for using the FBI plane for personal travels and even suggested that the jet be grounded.
—Eric Tucker, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
There’s been a quiet but persuasive strain of Americana threading through NYFW, not the bombastic, flag-waving kind, but something more intimate and lived-in.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bombastic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bombastic
Adjective
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There’s a familiar rhetorical pattern to retirement announcements by most members of Congress.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
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Its strength lies in the creation of characters who, although sometimes forced to function stiffly as rhetorical mouthpieces, seem genuinely conflicted and caught off guard by the brutal interventions of history.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The straight-A students, in other words, likely have parents with straight-A portfolios, but both end up with B- or even C-level experiences in this inflated economy.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
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Introduced in season 4 and continuing through the final fifth season, Vince is a naturally gifted athlete who struggles with an inflated ego when colleges start recruiting him.—
Ken Simmons,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The bishops further authorized a new edition of the Roman Pontifical for pontifical Masses, expected to be completed by 2027, with Vatican approval pending for some rites, according to the Catholic News Agency.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Nov. 2025
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In its report, the pontifical commission highlights failures in the Italian church.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bombastic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bombastic. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.
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