ostentate en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /ˈɒstənteɪt/
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ostentātus, perfect passive participle of ostentō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), intensive from ostendō. Doublet of ostent.
Meanings
-
(rare, transitive) To make an ambitious display of; to exhibit or show boastingly.
Society insisted that it was bad form to ostentate one's sickness unnecessarily.
1988, R. Porter & D. Porter, chapter XI, in In Sickness & in Health, page 191:It cannot avoid the brand of arrogancy, as well as hypocrisy, to challenge and ostentate that beauty or handsomeness of complexion as ours, which indeed is none of ours by any genuine right or property.
1701, John Gauden (attributed), Several Letters between Two Ladies Wherein the Lawfulness and Unlawfulness of Artificial Beauty:
- (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To boast, show off.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ostentated | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| ostentated | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| ostentating | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| ostentates | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Synonyms
venditate · swag it out · preen · ostent · swagger · flex · fluff one's feathers · cut round · cut it fat · flamboast · aura farm · ostent · strut · let one's nuts hang · figure away · showboat · high-side · exhibitionize · show off · three-sheet · exhibitionize · swank · stunt · floss · boulevardier · swagger · cut a wide swath · yaya · flaunt · strut one's stuff · ostentate · gallery · show away · ostent