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ostentation

ostentations

Ostentation is a pretentious or showy display (gaudy or flashy), usually designed to attract attention. Ostentation is a woman in a fur coat, covered in diamond jewelry, boarding a gold-plated private jet.

The noun ostentation stems from the Latin word ostentationem, meaning "vain display." It is often associated with material items that showcase one's wealth and luxury. Ostentation might come to the minds of the other parents if you drive a Lamborghini to drop your kids off at school. A movie star's gas-guzzling, 400-foot yacht may also be considered by many as a symbol of ostentation.

Definitions of ostentation
  1. noun
    pretentious or showy or vulgar display
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    type of:
    largeness, pretension, pretentiousness
    the quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth)
  2. noun
    a gaudy outward display
    synonyms: fanfare, flash
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    types:
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    bluster, bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    exhibitionism
    extravagant and conspicuous behavior intended to attract attention to yourself
    ritz
    ostentatious display of elegance
    splurge
    an ostentatious display (of effort or extravagance etc.)
    pedantry
    an ostentatious and inappropriate display of learning
    type of:
    display
    exhibiting openly in public view
  3. noun
    lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
    synonyms: inflation, ostentatiousness, pomposity, pompousness, pretentiousness, puffiness, splashiness
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    type of:
    inelegance
    the quality of lacking refinement and good taste
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘ostentation'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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