1
as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
the pompous waiter served us in the manner of a person doing some poor soul a great favor
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2
as in smug
having too high an opinion of oneself
a pompous piano teacher who thought that the music world was lucky to have her
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3
as in pretentious
self-consciously trying to present an appearance of grandeur or importance
a pompous gambling casino decorated to look like a palace in ancient Rome
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Recent Examples of pompous
Bonneville, as the ineffectually pompous Mr. Brown, always gives the impression of having a whale of a time.
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Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Film festivals can often be pompous affairs, full of endless gatekeeping, infinite gradations of status, and extremely specific dress codes.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
Salt Lake capitulates In what can only be described as another example of the pompous and megalomaniac nature of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC forced Salt Lake City to turn against its own country in order to secure the bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics.
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2024
Though well intentioned, Damian is pompous, consoling Martha while lecturing her on how humankind’s inability to curb its carbon footprint has made global warming unstoppable — and ecological catastrophe unavoidable.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pompous 
Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Film festivals can often be pompous affairs, full of endless gatekeeping, infinite gradations of status, and extremely specific dress codes.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
Salt Lake capitulates In what can only be described as another example of the pompous and megalomaniac nature of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC forced Salt Lake City to turn against its own country in order to secure the bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics.
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2024
Though well intentioned, Damian is pompous, consoling Martha while lecturing her on how humankind’s inability to curb its carbon footprint has made global warming unstoppable — and ecological catastrophe unavoidable.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pompous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pompous
Adjective
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Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald return as love interest Virginia Venit and arrogant rival Shooter McGavin, respectively, and the cast includes rookies like Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce and pro wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2025
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Those include genial second-year resident Dr. King (Taylor Dearden), arrogant intern Santos (Isa Briones), and doe-eyed med students Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and Whittaker (Gerran Howell).Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 9 Jan. 2025
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João Franco Photo: Bravo/Mark Rogers/Bravo Deckhand/Bosun Below Deck Mediterranean Seasons 3-4 — 2nd Officer/Bosun Below Deck Down Under Season 2 — Why can’t someone knock the smug look off of this deckie turned bosun’s face?Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2024
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But the second half becomes increasingly generic conspiracy stuff, leading to a two-part conclusion that’s more smug and sanctimonious than the preceding action can justify.Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2024
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Some implied Hill was pretentious for citing Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, and Taxi Driver as the film’s influences.Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2024
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Like David, Danson appeared as a pretentious and smug version of himself on the beloved series.Esther Kang, People.com, 11 Dec. 2024
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Ben Stiller, the director, executive producer, and a key creative force behind the show, is certainly too famous to show up at this pop-up, let alone stand outside of it among the people, snapping photos on his smartphone like a proud dad at his kid's dance recital.Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
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The proud dad, 40, and his oldest child made history in October 2024 by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA.Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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And then there is Trump himself, who has grandiose ideas of his own, such as taking back control of the Panama Canal, levying tariffs on Mexico and Canada, purchasing Greenland, and getting countries in the region to accept U.S. deportees whose home countries have repeatedly refused to take them.Michael Wilner, Miami Herald, 14 Jan. 2025
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Over-indexing on strategy may lead to grandiose ambitions that wilt without the tactical discipline, metrics, and incentives that drive performance.Mark Nevins, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
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This was my chance to not be an actor, not have that stink of being an actor, that egotistical, show-off, controlling, making choices, being clever part of being an actor.Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
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The film, which centers on a group of egotistical actors making a Vietnam War movie, grossed nearly $200 million worldwide and picked up an Oscar nomination for supporting actor thanks to Robert Downey Jr.Zack Sharf, Variety, 26 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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According to Butler and Desai, chick lit tends to celebrate an ostentatious culture of globe-trotting shopping sprees—mainly in Western centers of fashion and power, such as London and New York.H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
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The actor’s approach to method dressing was expansive: from a modest 1997 Christian Dior skirt-set patterned with delicate daisies, to ostentatious power-clashing pieces from Christopher John Rogers.Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2024
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While the palace guards congratulate and pet Weasel and treat him as a hero for saving the country, Nina’s death is pointless and in vain.Rafael Motamayor, IndieWire, 9 Jan. 2025
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Any suggestion that the disaster — which has already killed two people, destroyed about 1,000 structures and caused 70,000 people to be placed under an evacuation order — would lead to a moment of national unity was in vain.Niall Stanage, The Hill, 8 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near pompous
Cite this Entry
“Pompous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pompous. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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