pompous
Etymology

From Middle English pompous, from Old French pompeux, from Late Latin pomposus, from Latin pompa, from Ancient Greek πομπή, from πέμπω ("I send"), equivalent to .

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈpɒmpəs/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈpɑmpəs/
Adjective

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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