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View synonyms for ostentatious

ostentatious

[ os-ten-tey-shuhs, -tuhn- ]

adjective

  1. characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others:

    an ostentatious dresser.

  2. (of actions, manner, qualities exhibited, etc.) intended to attract notice:

    Lady Bountiful's ostentatious charity.



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Other Words From

  • osten·tatious·ly adverb
  • osten·tatious·ness noun
  • unos·ten·tatious adjective
  • unos·ten·tatious·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ostentatious1

First recorded in 1650–60; ostentat(ion) + -ious

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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Just north of the main building is an ostentatious spherical behemoth that houses the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and a second, smaller theater.

A number of police officers have gone viral on right-wing media recently for their ostentatious rejections of departmental vaccine mandates.

He owned a successful soccer club, showed up at high-level political meetings wearing ostentatious designer belts and took his private jet to Paris on a whim.

Everything that would bring me joy always felt impractical, or too ostentatious at a time when thousands were suffering and dying, or too much effort for what would ultimately be a fleeting experience.

From Eater

I hereby apologize to Cecilia, who is a real person, and an actual puppeteer, and who does not obnoxiously observe her birthday in an ostentatious display of self-celebration the way most of the rest of you do.

And most of the contemporization sounds like what it is—an ostentatious, slightly ill-fitting suit slipped onto a stiff.

An ostentatious display of Japanese military might could scuttle those negotiations.

It was beyond ridiculous, beyond ostentatious, but it was all going to end soon.

The extraordinary price for the ostentatious gown proves that fascination with Princes Diana remains as strong today as ever.

In the photo, the ostentatious monument is undercut (literally) by a temporary stall selling wares in its niche.

And Jack come home from a long cruise, with prize-money in his pockets, was as ostentatious as any nouveau riche.

Kari averted his gaze because elephants are always irritated by the ostentatious bustle of a rhinoceros.

Then Griffith observed how delicate and prudent his lovely wife was, without ostentatious prudery; and his heart was at peace.

These dinners, formal as they were, are to be distinguished carefully from the extravagant banquets of the ostentatious rich.

Yet there was nothing ostentatious, or which seemed inconsistent with the degree of an opulent burgher.

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ostentationosteo-