ostentation

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Pretentious display

Nouns

1. ostentation, ostentatiousness, display, show, flourish, parade; pomp, array, state, solemnity; dash, splash, glitter, strut; bombast, pomposity (see boasting); tinsel, tawdriness; pretense, pretension, pretentiousness, flatulence; airs, showing off; showmanship; veneer, affectation; magnificence, splendor. Informal, front, dog. Slang, swank, side, ritz[iness], razzle-dazzle, glitz. See vanity, pride, ornament, vulgarity.

2. (elaborate event) pageant[ry], demonstration, panoply, exhibition, flying colors, tomfoolery; flourish or fanfare [of trumpets]; color guard; spectacle, procession; fete (see celebration). Slang, grandstand play.

3. (elaborate clothing) dress; court dress, full dress, black tie, white tie [and tails], evening dress or gown, ball dress, fancy dress; full regalia, tailoring; millinery, frippery; foppery, equipage. Slang, glad rags, Sunday best. See clothing, fashion.

4. (elaborate ceremony) ceremony, ceremonial; ritual; form, formality; etiquette; punctilio, punctiliousness; stateliness, rite; protocol.

5. exhibitionist, show-off; showman. Slang, grandstander. See affectation.

Verbs — put oneself forward, court attention, splurge; star, figure; make a show or display; glitter; show off, parade; display, exhibit, put forward; sport, brandish, blazon forth; dangle, flaunt, emblazon, prink, primp; set off, mount, have framed; put a good face upon. Informal, cut a figure, cut a dash, cut a wide swath, make a splash, play to the gallery, trot out, put on the dog, show off; wear one's heart on one's sleeve. Slang, grandstand, put on a front, strut one's stuff, doll up, wank.

Adjectives — ostentatious, showy, dashing, pretentious, impressive; jaunty; grand, pompous, palatial; high-sounding, turgid, garish, gaudy [as a peacock]; conspicuous, flaunting, flashing, flamboyant, flaming, glittering, florid, flowery; gay, splendid, magnificent, sumptuous, grandiose, de luxe; theatrical, dramatic, spectacular; ceremonial, ritual; dressy, fancy; solemn, stately, majestic, formal, stiff, ceremonious, punctilious, starched; in best bib and tucker, in Sunday best, on parade; blatant. Slang, ritzy, artsy, DayGlo.

Adverbs — ostentatiously, pompously, etc.; with a flourish of trumpets, with flying colors; in a big way.

Antonyms, see simpleness, modesty.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The quality of being ostentatious]

Syn. exhibitionism, showiness, pomp, pompousness, pomposity, parading, bravado, vaunting, magnificence, pageant, pageantry, splendor, spectacle, flourish, flamboyance, garishness, array, demonstration, pretending, boasting, bragging, swaggering, vainglory, braggartism; see also pretense 1 .

Ant. reserve*, diffidence, timidity.

2. [Ostentatious conduct]

Syn. show, display, brag, boast, vaunt, swagger, flourish, parade, fuss, exhibition, braggadocio, pretension; see also display 2 , vanity 1 .

Ant. reserve*, modest behavior, quiet.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

showiness, pretentiousness, exhibitionism, pomp, display, gloss, affectation, flashiness, flamboyance, swank, putting on airs, immodesty, *glitz, foppery, flaunting.

ANT.: modesty, plainness, inconspicuous, humbleness, restraint, understatement, blending into the woodwork

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun Boastful self-importance or display: grandioseness, grandiosity, pomposity, pompousness, pretension, pretentiousness. See PLAIN.