as in to show off
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior
the gymnast was showboating for the cameras when she lost her balance and fell
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of showboat
John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Apr. 2022
But that was neither showboating nor talking trash.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2020
Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
Fonseca found Barbosa to be a showboat on Instagram, sure, but also unfailingly polite and generous.
—Lauren Smiley, WIRED, 10 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for showboat
Verb
Don’t showboat around the bases.
—John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Apr. 2022
But that was neither showboating nor talking trash.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2020
Noun
Still, the factor that may have been most harmful were his relationships with fellow Republican lawmakers, who regarded him as an empty showboat willing to hurt the party to gain attention.
—Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
Fonseca found Barbosa to be a showboat on Instagram, sure, but also unfailingly polite and generous.
—Lauren Smiley, WIRED, 10 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for showboat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for showboat
Verb
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Pair it with the burgundy leather trousers, based on our ski pants, with the calf zips open to show off a good pair of boots.—
Tianwei Zhang,
Footwear News,
6 Nov. 2025
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Jana, who is the oldest Duggar daughter, and Wissmann could be seen kissing in one photo and showing off Jana's growing bump in another.—
Kayla Grant,
PEOPLE,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Two hundred cowboys led the parade, all of whom worked for the Kansas City Stockyards.—
Patrick Salland,
Kansas City Star,
7 Nov. 2025
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Tapping into this 2025 obsession, Miron Crosby, a leader in fashion-forward cowboy boots, has teamed up with luxury label Carolina Herrera on a two-boot collection that honors both the cowboy and the sophisticate inside of you.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Airlines also continue to cancel flights nationwide to meet FAA demands to cut up to 10% of flights within the next week.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
7 Nov. 2025
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The chicken, now cut up into small pieces at the lunch hour, soaks up the broth and packs an even more flavorful punch.—
Joseph Hernandez,
Kansas City Star,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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There's one moment in the trailer that shows Wolverine slashing an enemy with multiple cuts before shoving his claws straight through his skull, confirming this game is going to embrace the violence and berserker rage of this character.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Sep. 2025
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Welcome to the new American berserk, to borrow Philip Roth’s memorable phrase.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Running or horsing around with sparklers can also cause injuries and burns when users trip and fall.—
Justin Laube,
EverydayHealth.com,
2 July 2025
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Heath Ryan, who represented Australia in dressage at the 2008 Olympics, can be seen in the video – which the rider said is about two years old – hitting a horse around 40 times.—
Matias Grez,
CNN Money,
13 June 2025
Verb
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In the party scene, though, there would be plenty of swooping camera movements as the guests revelled.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
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Fans reveled as the Nets and the Suns marked the league's return by playing a preseason game in the Venetian Arena, which is owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., which is also a casino operator there.—
Mithil Aggarwal,
NBC news,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Send any news, comments, Meta predictions, or Costco hotdogs to talk@qz.com.—
Francisco Velasquez,
Quartz,
3 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
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Those have come from two players: Adrian Morejon of the San Diego Padres, who throws an odd knuckleball-changeup hybrid about 1 percent of the time, and Jonah Bride of the Minnesota Twins, an infielder fooling around with the knuckler in blowouts.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Showboat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/showboat. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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