Definitions for ostentation
ˌɒs tɛnˈteɪ ʃən, -tən-os·ten·ta·tion

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ostentation, fanfare, flashnoun

   a gaudy outward display

2. ostentation, ostentatiousness, pomposity, pompousness, pretentiousness, puffiness, splashiness, inflationnoun

   lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity

3. ostentationnoun

   pretentious or showy or vulgar display

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ostentationnoun

   Ambitious display; vain show; display intended to excite admiration or applause.

2. ostentationnoun

   A show or spectacle.

3. Etymology: Originated 1425–75 from late ostentacioun, from ostentation, from ostentatio, equivalent to ostentātus (past participle of ostentāre, to display or exhibit), frequentative of ostendere (to present, display) + -ion.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ostentationnoun

   Etymology: ostentation, Fr. ostentatio, Lat.

   1. Outward show; appearance.

   If these shows be not outward, which of you
   But is four Volscians? ——
   —— March on my fellows;
   Make good this ostentation, and you shall
   Divide in all with us. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   You are come
   A market-maid to Rome, and have prevented
   The ostentation of our love. William Shakespeare.

   2. Ambitious display; boast; vain show. This is the usual sense.

   If all these secret springs of detraction fail, yet a vain ostentation of wit sets a man on attacking an established name, and sacrificing it to the mirth and laughter of those about him. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 256.

   He knew that good and bountiful minds were sometimes inclined to ostentation, and ready to cover it with pretence of inciting others by their example, and therefore checks this vanity: Take heed, says he, that you do not your alms before men, to be seen. Francis Atterbury.

   3. A show; a spectacle. Not in use.

   The king would have me present the princess with some delightful ostentation, show, pageant, antick, or firework. William Shakespeare, Love’s Lab. Lost.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ostentation

   In sociology and in economics, the term conspicuous consumption describes and explains the consumer practice of buying and using goods of a higher quality, price, or in greater quantity than practical. In 1899, the sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption to explain the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury commodities (goods and services) specifically as a public display of economic power—the income and the accumulated wealth—of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, the public display of discretionary income is an economic means of either attaining or of maintaining a given social status.The development of Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption also identified and described other economic behaviours such as invidious consumption, which is the ostentatious consumption of goods, an action meant to provoke the envy of other people; and conspicuous compassion, the ostentatious use of charity meant to enhance the reputation and social prestige of the donor; thus the socio-economic practises of consumerism derive from conspicuous consumption.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ostentation

   Ostentation is the act of displaying wealth, luxury, or power in a way that is meant to impress or attract attention from others. It often implies a showy, excessive, or pretentious display.

Matched Categories

1. • Inelegance
   • Pretentiousness

Anagrams for ostentation »

1. tionontates

How to pronounce ostentation?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say ostentation in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ostentation in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ostentation in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of ostentation in a Sentence

1. Fyodor Dostoevsky:

   By interpreting freedom as the propagation and immediate gratification of needs, people distort their own nature, for they engender in themselves a multitude of pointless and foolish desires, habits, and incongruous stratagems. Their lives are motivated only by mutual envy, sensuality, and ostentation.

2. William Hutton:

   The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation.

3. Edwin Hubbel Chapin:

   Ostentation is the signal flag of hypocrisy.

4. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli:

   Most certainly do not engage in ostentation, waste or luxury.

5. William Hazlitt:

   Fashon is the abortive issue of vain ostentation and exclusive egotism it is haughty, trifling, affected, servile, despotic, mean and ambitious, precise and fantastical, all in a breath -- tied to no rule, and bound to conform to every whim of the minute.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ostentation
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ostentation
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=ostentation
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostentation
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com