Bombasting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To utilize a style of speech that is marked by excessive embellishment and ostentation, aiming to impress others through inflated assertions and a lack of substantive content
2. Employing speech that is overly grandiose and pretentious to create a showy impression without meaningful content
3. Speaking in an exaggerated and pretentious manner that exaggerates importance but lacks real substance

Etymology: Bombast was once a material before it was a style. The Greek "bómbux" meant silkworm, and it passed through Late Latin "bombax" (cotton) into Old French "bombace," meaning cotton or cotton wadding. Because cotton wool was used to stuff and pad garments, the word came to name padding itself, and in English "bombast" referred to cotton wool used to stiffen or puff out clothing. The leap from padding to pomposity follows naturally from that. Stuffing a doublet with cotton made it look fuller and grander than the wearer's real frame, and speech padded with inflated vocabulary works the same way: it looks substantial while containing little underneath. Writers began using "bombast" in this sense, and "bombasting" describes the act of speaking or writing in that puffed-up manner.

Synonyms: boasting, bragging, blustering, ranting, pompous

Antonyms: humble, modest