1
as in rhetoric
boastful speech or writing
the other world leaders at the international conference had little interest in being subjected to the president's bombast
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in grandiloquence
language that is impressive-sounding but not meaningful or sincere
you need less bombast and more substance in this speech on human rights
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bombast
In previous years, Bun B’s takeovers—H-Town, Southern, and All-American, respectively—leaned heavily into the bombast of hip-hop, an all-star showcase of Southern rap royalty.
—
Shelby Stewart, Essence, 17 Mar. 2025
Trump is enacting Project 2025 nearly to the letter, deploying executive orders, lawsuits, and rhetorical bombast in an effort to force judges, law firms, cultural institutions, university presidents, and press barons into postures of pitiable obedience.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
In typical Nintendo fashion, the teaser video is stripped down, featuring no audio or bombast.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
Now, there are – there are diplomats who have told me that his unpredictability, his bombast is helping negotiations in the Middle East, for example.
—NBC News, 12 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bombast
Shelby Stewart, Essence, 17 Mar. 2025
Trump is enacting Project 2025 nearly to the letter, deploying executive orders, lawsuits, and rhetorical bombast in an effort to force judges, law firms, cultural institutions, university presidents, and press barons into postures of pitiable obedience.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
In typical Nintendo fashion, the teaser video is stripped down, featuring no audio or bombast.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
Now, there are – there are diplomats who have told me that his unpredictability, his bombast is helping negotiations in the Middle East, for example.
—NBC News, 12 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bombast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bombast
Noun
-
Opponents argue the laws sanction discrimination and the exclusion of a vulnerable minority group and that rhetoric produced in these debates can stigmatize the transgender community.—
Sam Gringlas,
NPR,
10 May 2025
-
But despite hope for mediation, rhetoric turned personal Friday when NJ Transit President Kris Kollouri took a swipe at Haas’ memory.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
9 May 2025
Noun
-
Much of that singularity was centered in McCarthy’s prose, which ricocheted—sometimes gracefully, sometimes jarringly—between gruff matter-of-factness and soaring, biblical grandiloquence.—
Alex Shephard,
The New Republic,
13 June 2023
-
Several of them can fly, and all have at least a touch of grandiloquence to them.—
Michael Nordine,
Variety,
11 Aug. 2022
Noun
-
Latto popped up first on the track, bringing some braggadocios bars before G Herbo jumped in with his rambunctious energy.—
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady,
Billboard,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Taylor-Johnson and Gosling have a lot of fun with Tom’s braggadocio and Colt’s deadpan replies when the star actor and his stunt double finally face off.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
7 May 2024
Noun
-
Loewe’s Puzzle bag, which Anderson introduced in his first collection, and which is made from soft leather cut into patchwork pieces and then stitched back together at rakish angles, is a choice non-blingy brag.—
Rebecca Mead,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
-
How 'Intermezzo' sparked envy, became the galley brag of 2024 I, dear reader, am not above a galley brag.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The bluster, the flip-flopping, the tariffs slapped on islands inhabited only by penguins — these are all moments.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
-
Perhaps Thursday’s threat was just a bit of bluster from a president prone to tantrums — a one-off social media post that his more stable advisers will surely try to rein in to avoid an all-out panic.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
There has been a lot of chatter on the internet and social media in recent weeks that ALDI’s Summit Diet Cola is just as good, or even better, than the original.—
Jenna Sims,
Southern Living,
3 May 2025
-
His dramas, rarely built on tightly interlocking shards of plot, are instead propelled by ambient forces: blasts of music, gusts of chatter.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
2 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bombast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bombast. Accessed 19 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share