Meaning & use
ostentatious
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Meant to attract attention and impress people, especially by showing off money or taste in an obvious way.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after be: an ostentatious car; the house is ostentatious.
Patterns
- ostentatious in something
He drove an ostentatious gold sports car to the meeting.
The hotel lobby was ostentatious, full of marble and chandeliers.
She avoided any ostentatious display of her wealth.
Word forms
| comparative | more ostentatious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ostentatious |
Common combinations
- ostentatious display
- The party was an ostentatious display of wealth.
- ostentatious wealth
- He disliked ostentatious wealth.
- ostentatious jewelry
- She wore ostentatious jewelry to the dinner.
- ostentatious mansion
- The ostentatious mansion had its own fountain.
- not ostentatious
- The wedding was elegant but not ostentatious.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flashy
- Flashy is more casual and can be mildly admiring, whereas ostentatious is a more serious criticism.
- showy
- Showy simply means attractive and eye-catching, and can be neutral, while ostentatious suggests intention to impress.
- pretentious
- Pretentious suggests pretending to be more important or cultured than you are, while ostentatious is about displaying wealth.
- lavish
- Lavish means generous or rich in quantity and is often positive, but ostentatious is nearly always critical.
Opposites
Word family
- ostentation noun
- showy display meant to impress
- ostentatiously adverb
- in a showy way
- unostentatious adjective
- modest and not showy
Commonly confused: ostentatious or ostensible?
ostentatious vs ostensible
Ostensible means apparent or claimed, but possibly not real. It sounds similar to ostentatious but means something different.
Practice
Which word best describes a very expensive gold car chosen mainly to impress neighbors?
Choose one answer.
Ostentatious describes showy display meant to impress. Ostensible means apparent, while unassuming and frugal are the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ostentatious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.