bombast
/ˈbɒmbast
/noun [mass noun]
High-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people: the bombast of gung-ho militarism...
- But for many years now bombast, rant, and confident obscurity have been his reigning notes.
- There was more bombast and bluster than football, the most notable happenings on the park being the accumulation of bookings.
- Finlandia is not a long piece but manages to combine both bombast and lyricism, with a main theme that I really like.
Synonyms
bluster, pomposity, ranting, rant, nonsense, empty talk, humbug, wind, blather, blether, claptrap;
turgidity, verbosity, verbiage, periphrasis, euphuism, fustian;
pretentiousness, affectedness, ostentation, grandiloquence, magniloquence
informal hot air, bunkum, guff, bosh
literary braggadocio, rodomontade
Origin
Mid 16th century (denoting raw cotton or cotton wool used as padding, later used figuratively): from Old French bombace, from medieval Latin bombax, bombac-, alteration of bombyx 'silkworm' (see bombazine).