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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
os·ten·ta·tion    Audio Help   [os-ten-tey-shuhn, -tuhn-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.pretentious or conspicuous show, as of wealth or importance; display intended to impress others.
2.Archaic. the act of showing or exhibiting; display.

[Origin: 1425–75; late ME ostentacioun < MF ostentation < L ostentātiōn- (s. of ostentātiō), equiv. to ostentāt(us) ptp. of ostentāre to display, exhibit, freq. of ostendere to present, display (equiv. to os-, var of ob- ob- + ten(dere) to stretch + -t- freq. suffix + -ātus -ate1) + -iōn- -ion]

1. pretension, pretense. See show.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
ostentation

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
os·ten·ta·tion    Audio Help   (ŏs'těn-tā'shən, -tən-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Pretentious display meant to impress others; boastful showiness.
  2. Archaic The act or an instance of showing; an exhibition.


[Middle English ostentacioun, from Old French ostentacion, from Latin ostentātiō, ostentātiōn-, from ostentāre, frequentative of ostendere, to show; see ostensible.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ostentation 
1436, from M.Fr. ostentation (1366), from L. ostentationem (nom. ostentatio) "vain display," from ostentatus, pp. of ostentare "to display," freq. of ostendere (see ostensible).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
ostentation

noun
1. a gaudy outward display 
2. lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity 
3. pretentious or showy or vulgar display 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ostentation

Os`ten*ta"tion\, n. [L. ostentatio: cf. F. ostentation.]

1. The act of ostentating or of making an ambitious display; unnecessary show; pretentious parade; -- usually in a detractive sense. "Much ostentation vain of fleshly arm." --Milton.

He knew that good and bountiful minds were sometimes inclined to ostentation. --Atterbury.

2. A show or spectacle. [Obs.] --Shak.

Syn: Parade; pageantry; show; pomp; pompousness; vaunting; boasting. See Parade.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

ostentation

ostentation was Word of the Day on October 27, 2002.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day
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