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Synonym Chooser

How is the word ostentatious different from other adjectives like it?

The words pretentious and showy are common synonyms of ostentatious. While all three words mean "given to excessive outward display," ostentatious stresses vainglorious display or parade.

the ostentatious summer homes of the rich

When is it sensible to use pretentious instead of ostentatious?

The synonyms pretentious and ostentatious are sometimes interchangeable, but pretentious implies an appearance of importance not justified by the thing's value or the person's standing.

a pretentious parade of hard words

When could showy be used to replace ostentatious?

The words showy and ostentatious are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, showy implies an imposing or striking appearance but usually suggests cheapness or poor taste.

the performers' showy costumes

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 ostentatious Local law prohibits ostentatious displays by public officials, as well as their families. Chad De Guzman, Time, 21 Sep. 2025 During its heyday, the light yellow was warming, but not as potentially ostentatious as gold. R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025 Lamborghinis ostentatious, Corvettes simplistic, BMWs arrogant. Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 15 Sep. 2025 Now, the Chinese leader is set to exhibit a very different image with an ostentatious show of military might. Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ostentatious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ostentatious
Adjective
  • Sounds of loud trilling shouts after silent hunts, and singing.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
  • On screen, Lawrence and Pattinson hurl nonstop insults at each other in loud bursts of verbal warfare, a striking contrast to the duo’s quieter working relationship.
    Antonio Ferme, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • So long as that situation continues, the 43-year-old’s allegedly arrogant and stand-offish treatment of his players will not worry the club hierarchy too much.
    Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The pilot opens with Powell’s character, arrogant college quarterback Russ Holliday, leading his Oregon Ducks team in the National Championship game against Georgia at the Rose Bowl.
    Angelique Jackson, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • During the diagnostic test, Firestone employees noted the engine was noisy, barely ran and burned oil, according to Pittman's paperwork.
    Gina Lee Castro, jsonline.com, 30 Oct. 2025
  • And Latin American cultures are noisy.
    Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • One of the great pleasures of anime is that its unabashed, rollicky genre pieces are often suffused with grand, but not grandiose, sociopolitical commentary — a heady combination that many similar pictures can’t pull off.
    Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The Great Park idea was hatched two-plus decades ago amid grandiose promises.
    The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Packers are leaving plenty of meat on the bone despite that gaudy scoring number, however, and that’s a fault of the head coach and the players.
    Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Her gaudy sales numbers mirror her Eras Tour live statistics, which were similarly Barry-Bonds-on-steroids margins beyond other successful stadium artists.
    Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Each burger is hand-packed with crisp lettuce, tomato, pickles and just a swipe of mustard — nothing unnecessary, nothing pretentious.
    Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Need to drop a levity bomb in the middle of a group of pretentious characters?
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Gather with friends and while away the afternoon with magically spiked concoctions — whether sipping a Jasmine Peach or Cucumber Mint Mystic Tea — and extravagant savory and sweet treats.
    Kathryn Streeter, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Andrew later invited the couple back to Windsor in 2006 for his daughter Princess Beatrice’s extravagant 18th birthday ball, according to Britain’s The Sun on Sunday newspaper.
    Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • 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, 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

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Cite this Entry

“Ostentatious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ostentatious. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

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