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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bombastic
In another era, Pratt would have been a welcome edition to the roster of bombastic Southern California preachers a la Aimee Semple McPherson, Chuck Smith and Gene Scott, as well as radio titans such as George Putnam and John Kobylt.
—
Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026
Those reservations have been blown up by the bombastic presence of Alcaraz combined with Sinner’s stoicism, a synergy seen in full force at Roland Garros last year.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
That claim sounds bombastic when much of the art world sees the headline grabbing Banksy as a guilty pleasure at best.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 7 May 2026
The 77-year-old monarch faced a number of possible pitfalls from a bombastic US president known for creating controversy and generating headlines at the lowest moment for US-UK relations in modern history.
—Max Foster, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for bombastic
Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026
Those reservations have been blown up by the bombastic presence of Alcaraz combined with Sinner’s stoicism, a synergy seen in full force at Roland Garros last year.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
That claim sounds bombastic when much of the art world sees the headline grabbing Banksy as a guilty pleasure at best.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 7 May 2026
The 77-year-old monarch faced a number of possible pitfalls from a bombastic US president known for creating controversy and generating headlines at the lowest moment for US-UK relations in modern history.
—Max Foster, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for bombastic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bombastic
Adjective
-
There has never quite been a critical or scholarly consensus about them, but Bellini, whose music is suspended somewhere between Rossini’s precise brilliance and Donizetti’s rhetorical force, can move audiences with his melodic facility.—
Arya Roshanian,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026
-
Those include rhetorical shifts, partnerships with brokerage platforms and teaming up with companies to develop necessary infrastructure.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
And that includes working together as a team without an inflated sense of pride.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
10 June 2026
-
The absolute ideal scenario for FIFA in this plan—that all the tickets sell at the inflated price—is basically impossible.—
Eben Novy-Williams,
Sportico.com,
10 June 2026
Adjective
-
Leo opened his visit to Pompeii by meeting with sick and disabled people who are cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary, which Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, declared a pontifical basilica in 1901.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 May 2026
-
That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.—
Claudio Lavanga,
NBC news,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bombastic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bombastic. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
