pompous

English

Etymology

From Middle English pompous, from Old French pompeux, from Late Latin pomposus, from Latin pompa (“pomp”), from Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ, “a sending, a solemn procession, pomp”), from πέμπω (pémpō, “I send”), equivalent to pomp +‎ -ous. Doublet of pomposo.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒmpəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑmpəs/

Adjective

pompous (comparative more pompous, superlative most pompous)

1. Affectedly grand, solemn or self-important.
   • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial:

     But man is a Noble Animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing Nativities and Deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting Ceremonies of bravery, in the infamy of his nature.

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
     , Bantam Classics (1997), 16:

     Not that the parting speech caused Amelia to philosophise, or that it armed her in any way with a calmness, the result of argument; but it was intolerably dull, pompous, and tedious; and having the fear of her schoolmistress greatly before her eyes, Miss Samuel did not venture, in her presence, to give way to any ebullitions of private grief.

Synonyms

• conceited
• smug
• highfalutin
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• self-effacing

Related terms

• pomp
• pomposity
• pompously
• pompousness

Translations

affectedly grand

• Bulgarian: надут (bg) (nadut), важен (bg) (važen)
• Catalan: pompós (ca)
• Czech: pompézní
• Danish: pompøs (da), højrøvet (arrogant)
• Dutch: pompeus (nl)
• Finnish: mahtipontinen (fi), suurellinen (fi)
• French: pompeux (fr), emphatique (fr)
• Galician: pomposo (gl)
• German: pompös (de), schwülstig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: σοβαρός (sobarós)

• Hungarian: fellengzős (hu)
• Irish: mórchúiseach
• Italian: pomposo (it)
• Lithuanian: pompastiškas, pasipūtęs
• Macedonian: високо́парен (visokóparen), на́дуен (náduen), по́мпезен (pómpezen)
• Maori: whakakake, whakaī
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pompøs (no), høyttravende (no)

  Nynorsk: pompøs, høgttråvande

• Persian: پرشکوه (fa) (poršokuh)
• Portuguese: pomposo (pt)
• Romanian: pompos (ro)
• Russian: помпе́зный (ru) (pompéznyj), напы́щенный (ru) (napýščennyj), надутый (ru) (nadutyj)
• Spanish: majestuoso (es), pomposo (es), grandilocuente (es), altisonante (es), altísono (es), rimbombante (es), campanudo (es), hinchado (es)
• Swedish: pompös (sv)

Further reading

• “pompous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pompous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “pompous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.