Word of the Day

: August 29, 2008

bumptious

adjective BUMP-shus

What It Means

: presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive : obtrusive

bumptious in Context

"I wish the DJs on this station weren't so bumptious," said Andrea. "I'd prefer to just listen to the music."

Did You Know?

Etymologists believe that "bumptious" was probably coined, perhaps playfully, from the noun "bump" plus "-tious." When "bumptious" was first used around 1800, it meant "self-conceited." Charles Dickens used it that way in David Copperfield: "His hair was very smooth and wavy; but I was informed . . . that it was a wig . . . and that he needn't be so 'bounceable' -- somebody else said 'bumptious' -- about it, because his own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind."