bombast
Inflated empty speech
Bombast is speech or writing that sounds impressive but lacks substance—overblown language meant to impress rather than communicate.
The word suggests inflated rhetoric, grandiose phrasing, and empty posturing: His speech was pure bombast, full of sweeping promises and patriotic clichés.
Bombastic is the adjective.
Pompous, extravagant language
- magniloquenceBoastful, elevated language
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
- declamationForceful, theatrical speaking
fustian · euphuism · rodomontade · gasconade · rant · bluster · speechifying · demagoguery
Vain, empty self-promotion
- boastfulnessExcessive pride in oneself
- swaggerConfident, boastful manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- vaingloryBoastful, unwarranted pride
self-aggrandizement · puffed-up · posturing · bravado · showing off · huffing · preening · strutting
Swollen or inflated state
- floridnessExcessive ornamental elaboration
- sonorousnessFullness of sound
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
- aureateGolden or ornate
highfalutin · sesquipedalian · flowery · purple prose · ornate · overwrought · inflated · pretentious
Rhetorical extreme exaggeration
- overstatementClaim beyond the facts
- embellishmentDecorative addition or exaggeration
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
- inflationSustained price level increase
overreach · dramatization · magnification · aggrandizement · puffery · overblown · swelling · excess
Tedious lengthiness in speech
- wordinessExcessive use of language
- circumlocutionIndirect, wordy expression
- verbiageOverabundance of language
- pleonasmRedundant expression
redundancy · diffuseness · long-windedness · windiness · padding · rambling · expansiveness
grandiloquence
Pompous, extravagant language
- magniloquenceBoastful, elevated language
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
declamation · fustian · euphuism · rodomontade · gasconade · rant · bluster · speechifying · demagoguery · harangue
braggadocio
Vain, empty self-promotion
- boastfulnessExcessive pride in oneself
- swaggerConfident, boastful manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
vainglory · self-aggrandizement · puffed-up · posturing · bravado · showing off · huffing · preening · strutting
turgidity
Swollen or inflated state
- floridnessExcessive ornamental elaboration
- sonorousnessFullness of sound
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
aureate · highfalutin · sesquipedalian · flowery · purple prose · ornate · overwrought · inflated · pretentious · ostentatious
hyperbole
Rhetorical extreme exaggeration
- overstatementClaim beyond the facts
- embellishmentDecorative addition or exaggeration
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
inflation · overreach · dramatization · magnification · aggrandizement · puffery · overblown · swelling · excess · extravagance
prolixity
Tedious lengthiness in speech
- wordinessExcessive use of language
- circumlocutionIndirect, wordy expression
- verbiageOverabundance of language
pleonasm · redundancy · diffuseness · long-windedness · windiness · padding · rambling · expansiveness
- blatherbabble, balderdash, baloney, blarney, blather
- theatricstheatrics, dramatics, melodrama, histrionics, theatricality
- dramatic wordshyperbole, exaggeration, tirade, rant, melodrama
- bombastgrandiloquence, magniloquence, pomposity, fustian, purple prose
- Renaissance Attiredoublet, jerkin, bodice, kirtle, farthingale
- blusterboast, boasting, rant, bragging, swagger
bombastsimplicity
Lack of complexity
plainness · understatement · plain speech · terseness · restraint
bombastsubstance
Physical material with mass
sincerity · authenticity · depth · genuineness · profundity