bombastic

English

WOTD – 3 January 2008

Alternative forms

• bombastical (archaic)
• bombastick (obsolete)
• bumbastic, bumbastical (obsolete)

Etymology

From bombast (“padding, stuffing”) +‎ -ic, 18th century. Sense evolution possibly influenced by unrelated bomb and bombard; see also bombard phrase.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɒmˈbæs.tɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bɑmˈbæs.tɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æstɪk
• Hyphenation: bom‧bas‧tic

Adjective

bombastic (comparative more bombastic, superlative most bombastic)

1. (of a person, their language or writing) showy in speech and given to using flowery or elaborate terms; grandiloquent; pompous

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:verbose, Thesaurus:arrogant

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:concise

   • 1907, Allen Chapman, Bound to Succeed:

     Dorsett came up the stairs, buggy whip in hand. He bustled into the office in his usual self‐important way. Frank noticed that the old clerk sat down on him promptly. He was not one bit impressed with the bombastic visitor from Greenville.

2. High‐sounding but with little meaning.
3. (colloquial) Loud, aggressive, highly exaggerated, or explosive in manner or delivery; over‐the‐top.
4. (archaic) Inflated, overfilled.

   Synonyms: inflated, turgid

Synonyms

• fustian

Derived terms

• nonbombastic
• unbombastic

Related terms

• bombast
• bombaster
• bombastically

Descendants

• → French: bombastique
• → Portuguese: bombástico
• → Spanish: bombástico

Translations

pompous or overly wordy

• Bulgarian: надут (bg) (nadut), претенциозен (bg) (pretenciozen), превзет (bg) (prevzet)
• Finnish: bombastinen (fi), mahtipontinen (fi)
• French: ampoulé (fr), boursouflé (fr), enflé (fr), pompeux (fr)
• German: bombastisch (de), geschwollen (de), pompös (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: φυσώδης (phusṓdēs)

• Hungarian: bombasztikus (hu), cikornyás (hu), dagályos (hu)
• Irish: mórfhoclach
• Italian: ampolloso (it), pomposo (it), magniloquente (it) m
• Macedonian: на́дуен (náduen), по́мпезен (pómpezen), високо́парен (visokóparen)
• Māori: wahahuka
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bombastisk, svulstig

  Nynorsk: bombastisk, svulstig

• Polish: pompatyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: bombástico
• Russian: напы́щенный (ru) (napýščennyj), помпе́зный (ru) (pompéznyj), высокопа́рный (ru) (vysokopárnyj)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: svulstig

• Slovak: bombastický
• Spanish: bombástico, altilocuente (es), altílocuo (es), altisonante (es), altísono (es), ampuloso (es), grandilocuente (es), grandílocuo (es), hinchado (es), hueco (es), pomposo (es), rimbombante (es)

high-sounding but with little meaning

• Bulgarian: голословен (bg) (golosloven)
• Finnish: mahtipontinen (fi)
• French: abscons (fr), verbeux (fr)
• German: bombastisch (de)
• Hungarian: fellengzős (hu)
• Irish: mórfhoclach
• Macedonian: изве́штачен (izvéštačen), по́мпезен (pómpezen)
• Māori: wahahuka
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: høystemt, høyttravende (no)

  Nynorsk: høgstemt, høgttravande, høgttråvande

• Polish: górnolotny (pl)
• Russian: напы́щенный (ru) (napýščennyj), помпе́зный (ru) (pompéznyj)

inflated, overfilled

• German: bombastisch (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bombastisk, svulstig

  Nynorsk: bombastisk, svulstig

• Polish: napuszony (pl)
• Spanish: bombástico

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German bombastisch.

Adjective

bombastic m or n (feminine singular bombastică, masculine plural bombastici, feminine/neuter plural bombastice)

1. bombastic

Declension

Declension of bombastic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	bombastic		bombastică	bombastici	bombastice
	definite	bombasticul		bombastica	bombasticii	bombasticele
genitive- dative	indefinite	bombastic		bombastice	bombastici	bombastice
	definite	bombasticului		bombasticei	bombasticilor	bombasticelor