Ostentatious

Given to showing off, pretentious, meant to impress others. A person or thing that is ostentatious is boastfully showy. Some of the many interesting synomyms: flashy, flaunting, florid, pompous, turgid, bombastic, swaggering, strutting, peacockish, gaudy, grandiose, grandiloquent, highfalutin, orotund, and orchidaceous (an ostentatious word in itself!).However appropriate it may be, to criticize a person or thing for being ostentatious is accusatory. Caution!: Most people are averse to ostracism. Unless an odious motive can be identified, one may be wise to employ less accusatory terms in describing a person or thing that is simply odd. Consider alternatives: e.g., strange, weird, peculiar, eccentric, or quirky. It is inappropriate to use even these without making (or at least preparing) a case for their use.If a bold display is more innocently or playfully celebratory ? lacking the element of self-importance ? then it might be described as flamboyant. One that is simply odd might be eccentric. Opposites of ostentatious are: modest, reserved, inconspicuous, plain, simple, and minimal.Also see bad art, buckeye, ersatz, fake, gild the lily, kitsch, low art, baroque, rococo, sublime, and truth.<br><br>Given to showing off, pretentious, meant to impress others. A person or thing that is ostentatious is boastfully showy. Some of the many interesting synomyms: flashy, flaunting, florid, pompous, turgid, bombastic, swaggering, strutting, peacockish, gaudy, grandiose, grandiloquent, highfalutin, orotund, and orchidaceous (an ostentatious word in itself!).However appropriate it may be, to criticize a person or thing for being ostentatious is accusatory. Caution!: Most people are averse to ostracism. Unless an odious motive can be identified, one may be wise to employ less accusatory terms in describing a person or thing that is simply odd. Consider alternatives: e.g., strange, weird, peculiar, eccentric, or quirky. It is inappropriate to use even these without making (or at least preparing) a case for their use.If a bold display is more innocently or playfully celebratory ? lacking the element of self-importance ? then it might be described as flamboyant. One that is simply odd might be eccentric. Opposites of ostentatious are: modest, reserved, inconspicuous, plain, simple, and minimal.Also see bad art, buckeye, ersatz, fake, gild the lily, kitsch, low art, baroque, rococo, sublime, and truth.