Synonyms of pompous

pompous

adjective

ˈpäm-pəs 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arrogant
• cavalier
• superior
• supercilious
• high-and-mighty
• pretentious
• haughty
• bumptious
• hifalutin
• important
• uppity
• domineering
• dominant
• smug
• assumptive
• presumptuous
• sniffy
• high-handed
• masterful
• imperious
• uppish
• huffy
• chesty
• authoritarian
• high-hat
• highfalutin
• overweening
• presuming
• lordly
• proud
• peremptory
• dominating
• huffish
• patronizing
• self-assertive
• egotistical
• lofty
• toploftical
• condescending
• toplofty
• snobbish
• impudent
• stiff-necked
• bossy
• boastful
• snooty
• pontifical
• magisterial
• snobby
• vainglorious
• self-asserting
• egoistical
• cocky
• bombastic
• narcissistic
• egocentric
• conceited
• disdainful
• saucy
• blusterous
• hubristic
• vain
• egotistic
• swaggering
• impertinent
• blustery
• self-centered
• egoistic
• pontificating
• prideful
• complacent
• self-satisfied
• braggy
• self-conceited
• uninhibited
• braggart
• self-complacent
• stuck-up
• immodest
• brash
• extroverted
• bragging
• extraverted
• self-flattering
• self-promoting
• self-loving
• orgulous
• unreserved
• self-affected
• self-pleased
• self-applauding
• forward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• lowly
• unpretentious
• timid
• bashful
• sheepish
• diffident
• shy
• subdued
• mousy
• passive
• introverted
• demure
• deferential
• shrinking
• meek
• unassuming
• unarrogant
• unobtrusive
• unassertive
• compliant
• submissive
• acquiescent
• unaggressive
• quiet
• self-doubting
• self-critical
• overmodest
• mousey
• cringing
• yielding
• reserved
• retiring
• cowering

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smug
• arrogant
• proud
• egotistical
• vain
• self-important
• egoistical
• vainglorious
• conceited
• egotistic
• domineering
• selfish
• bigheaded
• egoistic
• important
• prideful
• complacent
• confident
• self-satisfied
• self-conceited
• stuck-up
• overweening
• boastful
• biggety
• snobbish
• supercilious
• consequential
• cocky
• high-and-mighty
• bombastic
• snooty
• self-opinionated
• biggity
• snobby
• cavalier
• assured
• bumptious
• blusterous
• haughty
• swellheaded
• uppity
• pretentious
• swaggering
• blustery
• pontifical
• braggy
• hifalutin
• assumptive
• holier-than-thou
• braggart
• disdainful
• uppish
• overconfident
• bragging
• high-handed
• masterful
• huffy
• chesty
• superior
• high-hat
• self-assertive
• toploftical
• presumptuous
• imperious
• toplofty
• fastuous
• condescending
• self-assured
• self-confident
• patronizing
• lordly
• self-centered
• peremptory
• lofty
• presuming
• highfalutin
• self-congratulatory
• self-glorifying
• self-contented
• self-asserting
• self-dramatizing
• self-promoting
• self-engrossed
• self-gratulatory
• self-adulatory
• self-applauding
• self-affected

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• diffident
• egoless
• timid
• meek
• unassertive
• self-critical
• uncomplacent
• unassuming
• unpretentious
• self-doubting
• down-to-earth
• bashful
• sheepish
• self-reproachful
• self-distrustful
• mousy
• shy
• introverted
• demure
• self-reproving
• retiring
• shrinking
• mousey
• overmodest
• unarrogant

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arrogant
• pretentious
• grandiose
• ostentatious
• hifalutin
• proud
• smug
• high-minded
• snippy
• highfalutin
• egotistical
• la-de-da
• affected
• la-di-da
• lah-di-dah
• self-important
• cavalier
• egoistical
• high-and-mighty
• vainglorious
• lah-de-dah
• conceited
• grandiloquent
• bumptious
• vain
• egotistic
• lah-dee-dah
• confident
• snobbish
• sententious
• supercilious
• uppity
• high-sounding
• self-centered
• haughty
• presumptuous
• egoistic
• snobby
• prideful
• imperious
• aggressive
• high-handed
• high-flown
• rude
• complacent
• high-toned
• boastful
• important
• assertive
• self-satisfied
• hoity-toity
• self-aggrandizing
• disdainful
• high-hat
• self-assertive
• cocky
• self-conceited
• insolent
• impudent
• self-obsessed
• overweening
• self-complacent
• self-glorifying
• self-assured
• self-confident
• showy
• brassy
• flamboyant
• self-dramatizing
• cheeky
• superior
• self-promoting
• gaudy
• stuck-up
• airy
• sure
• lordly
• glitzy
• garish
• flashy
• self-pleased
• bragging
• self-asserting
• audacious
• braggart
• bold
• flaunting
• splashy
• forward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• modest
• unpretentious
• humble
• meek
• unassuming
• homely
• lowly
• down-to-earth
• passive
• timid
• retiring
• quiet
• bashful
• unassertive
• shy
• demure
• mousy
• reserved
• diffident
• mousey
• overmodest

Examples of pompous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Powell's Tyler Owens and his team show up pompous, selling T-shirts with his face on them and bragging about their million subscribers on YouTube. —Patrick Gomez, EW.com, 20 July 2024

Among the complicated web of interrelated islanders, who are thankfully listed in the book’s dramatis personae, is Garrick Williams, the pompous local pastor who harbors a shameful secret. —Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 July 2024

Fey didn’t write this uneven comedy, but it’s got some of the same sophisticated satire of big-city elites that 30 Rock exudes, and Martin has a ball playing a pompous numbskull who doesn’t know that ponytails have been over for more than a decade. —Will Leitch, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024

Their circumstances seem hopeless after willingly handing over their funds to Metal Mike (John Kaler), who serves as the pompous face of the fraudulent operation. —Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024