ostentatious

adjective

os·ten·ta·tious ˌä-stən-ˈtā-shəs

: attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration, or envy often by gaudiness or obviousness : overly elaborate or conspicuous : characterized by, fond of, or evincing ostentation

an ostentatious display of wealth/knowledge

The power of the government was present … but it did not express itself in large and ostentatious buildings.—

Albert Hourani

ostentatiously adverb

ostentatiousness noun

Did you know?

Showy, pretentious, and ostentatious all mean "given to outward display," but there are subtle differences in their meanings. Showy implies an imposing or striking appearance, but usually also implies cheapness or bad taste. Pretentious suggests an appearance of importance not justified by a thing's value or a person's standing. Ostentatious is the biggest show-off, stressing the vanity of the display. English speakers derived ostentatious from the noun ostentation, which can be traced back, via Middle French, to the Latin verb ostentare (meaning "to display"), a frequentative form of the verb ostendere, meaning "to show."

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How is ostentatious used?

Ostentatious comes from a Latin word meaning "display," and the idea of display is still very apparent in the English word as it is currently used.

People and things described as ostentatious seem to have put themselves on display; they are practically begging to be looked at. The word is not compliment.

Ostentatious is often applied to buildings that can also be described as luxurious—mansions, fancy high-rises, huge houses with marble columns. Sometimes the description appears in the negative, as when we're told that a house is large, but not ostentatious, which means that it's large but not in a way that calls attention to itself. When the word is applied to objects like clothes and jewelry, the idea is the same: such items attract attention for the luxury they imply.

People who are described as ostentatious—or who have lifestyles described as such—typically are seen as spending money in a way that makes it clear that they have a lot of it. Their consumption may also be described with the word, in which case the emphasis is on the impressive things they buy.

Less often, ostentatious is applied to what attracts attention not because of an implied luxury but because of some other quality. Someone's boastful declarations about volunteer work may be described, for example, as ostentatious.

Choose the Right Synonym for ostentatious

showy, pretentious, ostentatious mean given to excessive outward display.

showy implies an imposing or striking appearance but usually suggests cheapness or poor taste.

the performers' showy costumes

pretentious implies an appearance of importance not justified by the thing's value or the person's standing.

a pretentious parade of hard words

ostentatious stresses vainglorious display or parade.

the ostentatious summer homes of the rich

Examples of ostentatious in a Sentence

That pompous excuse for a plush ride is a thumb in the eye to every taxpayer—and in the case of an ostentatious cost-cutter, genuine hypocrisy. —

William Safire, New York Times, 2 May 1991

Always proud to sit down with an ice-cold beer in my hand, I was ostentatious about it in town. —

Mark Helprin, New Yorker, 30 May 1988

She had driven to Prague from the Netherlands in her Porsche, telling friends she didn't give a hoot how ostentatious she might appear to the comrades. —

Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated, 4 Aug. 1986

an ostentatious display of knowledge wears an ostentatious diamond ring on his little finger

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Hyman and his team also concocted a devilish backstory for Tony to explain some of his ostentatious wealth. —

Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2024 Both have wires in them to facilitate various ostentatious display options. —

Ollie Barder, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024 But according to Toph, for all this ostentatious adherence to truth-telling, his brother kept from his readers a telling decision — to conceal in plain sight his portrait of their suicidally struggling sister, Beth. —

Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2024 The duo also went on an ostentatious spending spree in the immediate aftermath of their parents’ deaths, which damned them in the view of many. —

Dominic Patten, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ostentatious