showboat

[ shoh-boht ]
See synonyms for showboat on Thesaurus.com
nounAlso showboater (for defs. 2, 3).
  1. a boat, especially a paddle-wheel steamer, used as a traveling theater.

  2. Informal. show-off (def. 1).

  1. a person, especially an athlete, who performs in an ostentatiously sensational manner calculated to draw attention; show-off.

verb (used without object)
  1. to perform or behave in an outrageous or spectacular manner.

Origin of showboat

1
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; show + boat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use showboat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for showboat

showboat

/ (ˈʃəʊˌbəʊt) /


noun
  1. a paddle-wheel river steamer with a theatre and a repertory company

verb
  1. (intr) to perform or behave in a showy and flamboyant way

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012