I. ˈbämˌbast, -baa(ə)st noun
( -s )
Etymology: modification of Middle French bombace, from Medieval Latin bombac-, bombax cotton, alteration of Latin bombyc-, bombyx silkworm, silk, from Greek bombyk-, bombyx silkworm, silk garment, probably of Persian origin; akin to Persian pamba cotton
1. obsolete : cotton or any soft fibrous material used as padding or stuffing
2. : a pretentious inflated style of speech or writing
adolescent bombast about Destiny and Youth
Synonyms:
rhapsody , rant , fustian , rodomontade : bombast indicates a verbose grandiosity or pretentious inflation of language and style disproportionate to thought
the rant and bombast and sentimental cant of politics — Florence Converse
in the days when a more decorated style was fashionable in many quarters, bombast and extravagance were common in the press — F.L.Mott
rhapsody may suggest ecstatic effusiveness, extravagant and often incoherent
a rhapsody of enchanting images which “led to nothing” — Times Literary Supplement
his characters, because of the intensity of his feeling about them, are excellently drawn, but he writes as though he had uncovered a new religion and thought it deserved a rhapsody, at least — New Yorker
rant is likely to suggest sustained violence of expression
Williams, in a characteristic prose rant, writes as if free verse were one of the inalienable rights for which the American Revolution was fought — Irving Howe
the hoarse rant of that demagogue fills the air and distracts the people's minds — Max Ascoli
fustian suggests or may suggest a filling or padding with the sonorous or grandiloquent but inane
lines of Jonson, detached from their context, look like inflated or empty fustian — T.S.Eliot
condemned as literary because its characters speak the fustian of pretentious books — C.E.Montague
rodomontade may suggest the bluster or swaggering rant of the mountebank, braggart, or demagogue
the brothers set about abusing each other in good round terms and with each intemperate sally their phrases became more deeply colored with the tincture of Victorian rodomontade — Ngaio Marsh
II. (ˈ) ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ sometimes bəmˈ ̷ ̷ transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. archaic : pad , stuff
2. : to make speciously impressive : inflate : make bombastic
a book bombasted with attempts at wit
III. ˈbämˌ ̷ ̷ adjective
archaic : pretentious , inflated