ostentation Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a gaudy outward display
flash; fanfare.
noun lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
splashiness; pompousness; pretentiousness; puffiness; inflation; pomposity; ostentatiousness.
noun pretentious or showy or vulgar display

L. ostentatio: cf. F. ostentation.

The act of ostentating or of making an ambitious display; unnecessary show; pretentious parade; -- usually in a detractive sense. "Much ostentation vain of fleshly arm." Milton.
He knew that good and bountiful minds were sometimes inclined to ostentation. Atterbury.
A show or spectacle. Obs. Shak. Syn. -- Parade; pageantry; show; pomp; pompousness; vaunting; boasting. See Parade.