show off

See also: showoff and show-off

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

show off (third-person singular simple present shows off, present participle showing off, simple past showed off, past participle shown off)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To exhibit the best attributes of something.

   Synonym: parade

   Grocery stores show off their produce by placing the most attractive specimens in front.

2. (transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To attract attention to for the purpose of bragging or personal exhibitionism; to demonstrate a skill, talent or property for the purpose of bragging or personal exhibitionism.

   Synonyms: flaunt, strut; see also Thesaurus:show off

   She loves to show off her driving prowess.

   She loves to show off when she gets behind the wheel of a car.

   • a. 1897, Katharine Prescott Wormeley, transl., A Start in Life‎^[1], translation of Un début dans la vie by Honoré de Balzac:

     “Listen, my Oscar,” she said, resuming at once her tender voice, “you have a propensity to talk, and to tell all you know, and all that you don’t know; and you do it to show off, with the foolish vanity of a mere lad. […] ”

   • 2014 June 29, Adam Sherwin, “UK cinemas ban Google glasses over piracy risk”, in The Independent‎^[2]:

     If you've just acquired a Google Glass headset for £1,000, don't show it off at the movies. UK cinemas are to ban the headsets over fears that the gadgets can be used to make pirate copies of Hollywood blockbusters.

   • 2022 September 7, “Network News: High-speed car crash blocks Tube Line”, in RAIL, number 965, page 23:

     She told the press that the group had been for an evening out and that the driver has been showing off by driving fast.

Derived terms

• showoff (noun)
• show-off (noun)
• show-offery
• show-offy

Translations

to exhibit, to demonstrate something for the purpose of bragging

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: تَفَاخَر (tafāḵar), تَبَاهَى (tabāhā)

  Moroccan Arabic: بغى يبان (bḡa iban)

• Bulgarian: парадирам (bg) (paradiram)
• Catalan: voler parèixer, voler fer-se veure; vantar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (positive) 炫耀 (zh) (xuànyào), (negative) 賣弄 / 卖弄 (zh) (màinong), (show off an object, person, etc) 誇耀 / 夸耀 (zh) (kuāyào)

• Czech: předvádět se
• Dutch: zich aanstellen (nl), pronken met (nl)
• Esperanto: dandi (eo), fanfaroni (eo), paradi, pavi
• Finnish: näyttää (fi), brassailla (fi) (slang); (show off one's intelligence) päteä (fi), pröystäillä, mahtailla (fi), leveillä (fi), ylpeillä (fi), kehuskella (fi), briljeerata
• French: crâner (fr), faire le malin (fr), frimer (fr), se la péter (fr) (informal, slang)
• Galician: lucir (gl), gabarse (gl)
• Georgian: მატრაკვეცა (maṭraḳveca), მეტიჩარა (meṭičara)
• German: angeben (de), aufschneiden (de), prangen (de), sich wichtigmachen, renommieren (de), sich aufblasen, wichtigtun
• Greek: επιδεικνύω (el) (epideiknýo)

  Ancient Greek: πομπεύω (pompeúō)

• Italian: vantare (it), vantarsi (it), mettere in mostra (it), mettersi in mostra (it)
• Japanese: 見えをはる (みえをはる, mie o haru), 見せようとする (みせようとする, miseyō to suru), ひけらかす (ja) (hikarakasu)
• Korean: 나대다 (ko) (nadaeda)
• Latin: ostento
• Macedonian: се фали (se fali)
• Māori: whakameremere, whakametometo, whakamenomeno
• Occitan: voler paréisser, voler se far veire/véser, faire l'arbalant, far lo gloriós, har lo flòri, har lo hasanhòt, har antifàcia
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: popisywać się (pl), produkować się impf, paradować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: mostrar-se, jactar-se, achar-se
• Romanian: se făli (ro), se lăuda (ro)
• Russian: рисова́ться (ru) (risovátʹsja), красова́ться (ru) (krasovátʹsja), (slang) выде́лываться (ru) (vydélyvatʹsja), (slang) выпе́ндриваться (ru) (vypéndrivatʹsja), (slang) выёживаться (vyjóživatʹsja), (vulgar) выёбываться (vyjóbyvatʹsja)
• Sikkimese: ངོམས (ngoms)
• Spanish: chulear (es), lucir (es), lucirse (es), hacer alarde de, alardear de, desfilar (es), pavonearse (es), purear (es) (Paraguay), dragonear (es), pintearse (Honduras)
• Swedish: paradera (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: hava atmak (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: خروسلانمق (horoslanmak)

• Ukrainian: викаблу́чуватися impf (vykablúčuvatysja), викабе́люватися (vykabéljuvatysja) (informal), випе́ндрюватися (vypéndrjuvatysja) (informal), випиндю́чуватися (vypyndjúčuvatysja) (slang), вийо́буватися impf (vyjóbuvatysja) (vulgar)
• Vietnamese: khoe (vi)
• Walloon: fé di s' yane (wa), fé di s' gueuye (wa) (unpolite), fé di s' nez (wa), fé di s' rinkinkin, fé d' ses imbaras
• Welsh: rhodresu, bostio

Noun

show off (plural show offs)

1. Nonstandard spelling of show-off.

See also

• show up