ostentatious adj

1 intended to attract notice and impress others; "an ostentatious sable coat" [syn: pretentious] [ant: unostentatious]

2 of a display that is tawdry or vulgar [syn: pretentious, kitsch]

English

Etymology

Originated 1650–60; ostentation+-ious.

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Adjective

1. of ostentation.
2. intended to attract notice.
3. of tawdry display; kitsch.

Derived terms

• ostensible
• ostensive

Translations

References

• American Heritage 2000
• Dictionary.com
• WordNet 2003

Gongoresque, Johnsonian, affected, ambitious, arabesque, baroque, bedizened, big-sounding, boastful, braggart, busy, chichi, classy, convoluted, declamatory, elaborate, elegant, elevated, euphuistic, fancy, fine, flamboyant, flaming, flash, flashy, flaunting, florid, flossy, flowery, frilly, fulsome, fussy, garish, gaudy, grandiloquent, grandiose, grandisonant, high-flowing, high-flown, high-flying, high-sounding, high-toned, high-wrought, highfalutin, highfaluting, inkhorn, labored, labyrinthine, lexiphanic, lofty, lurid, luxuriant, luxurious, magniloquent, meretricious, moresque, ornate, orotund, overdone, overelaborate, overelegant, overinvolved, overlabored, overworked, overwrought, peacockish, peacocky, pedantic, picturesque, pompous, pretentious, pretty-pretty, rhetorical, rich, rococo, sensational, sensationalistic, sententious, showy, sonorous, splashy, stilted, swank, tall, theatrical, tony, tortuous, vain, vainglorious, vaunting