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

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.

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