Pompous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpÉ’mpÊŒs/

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French pompeux, from Late Latin pomposus, from Latin pompa ("pomp"), from Ancient Greek πομπή (pompē, "a sending, a solemn procession, pomp"), from πέμπω (pempō, "I send").

Full definition of pompous

Adjective

1. Affectedly grand, solemn or self-important.
• 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, , 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 Sedley did not venture, in her presence, to give way to any ebullitions of private grief."

Synonyms

• affected
• conceited
• pretentious
• smug

Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• self-effacing

Related terms

• pomp
• pomposity
• pompously