Agency Dictionary
Bombastic
adjectivePronunciation: /bɒmˈbæs.tɪk/
In Portuguese: Bombástico
Writing & NarrativeWhat does “Bombastic” mean?
High-sounding, pompous, or inflated in speech or style with little genuine substance or humility.
Etymology
From bombast, which in the 16th century meant cotton wool used as padding for clothes, with the adjective ending -ic. Bombast is an altered form of bombace, from Old French bombace, "cotton", from Late Latin bombax, a variant of Latin bombyx, "silk, silkworm", from Greek bombyx. Padded clothes gave the image of padded language, and the adjective for an inflated style followed in the 18th century. The word has no connection with bomb, and the popular link with the name of Paracelsus, Bombastus von Hohenheim, is not accepted by etymological dictionaries.
Usage note
Said of language, style and the people who use them, always as a criticism. It does not mean explosive or sensational.
Synonyms
- pompous
- grandiloquent
- pretentious
- turgid
- high-flown
- overblown
Word family
- bombast
- bombastically
Rhymes with
- fantastic
- elastic
- plastic
- drastic
- sarcastic
- gymnastic
- enthusiastic
- scholastic
Usage examples
One of the founding ideas of modern pharmacology came in the 16th century from a Swiss physician with the most bombastic name: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
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