grandstanding
Playing to crowds
Grandstanding is behaving in a way designed to attract attention or impress others rather than to accomplish anything substantive.
Politicians grandstand when they make speeches aimed at voters rather than colleagues.
The term comes from the grandstand—the main seating area at a stadium—where spectators sit watching.
To grandstand is to play to that crowd: He accused the senator of grandstanding during the hearing.
Delaying tactic through speech
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- demagogueryManipulative political rhetoric
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
- stumpTrunk base after felling
pundit · soapbox · posturing · obstructionism · speechifying · partisanship · bloviating · pandering
Concentrated illumination source
- limelightCenter of public notice
- publicityMedia-driven awareness
- headlinesArticle titles in newspapers
- mediaInformation distribution channels
coverage · posturing · exposure · hype · buzz · sensationalism · profile · spectacle
Excessive self-importance
- vanityExcessive pride in oneself
- narcissismExcessive admiration of oneself
- self-importanceExaggerated sense of significance
- egotismInflated sense of self-importance
conceit · hubris · pomposity · boastfulness · smugness · braggadocio · self-aggrandizement · swagger
Strikingly expressive or sudden
- melodramaticExaggeratedly emotional in expression
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
- overactingExcessive theatrical performance
- hammingExaggerated theatrical performance
performance · spectacle · showmanship · flamboyance · theatrics · scene-stealing · exaggeration · bombast
filibuster
Delaying tactic through speech
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- demagogueryManipulative political rhetoric
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
stump · pundit · soapbox · posturing · obstructionism · speechifying · partisanship · bloviating · pandering · talking-points
spotlight
Concentrated illumination source
- limelightCenter of public notice
- publicityMedia-driven awareness
- headlinesArticle titles in newspapers
media · coverage · posturing · exposure · hype · buzz · sensationalism · profile · spectacle · trending
arrogance
Excessive self-importance
- vanityExcessive pride in oneself
- narcissismExcessive admiration of oneself
- self-importanceExaggerated sense of significance
egotism · conceit · hubris · pomposity · boastfulness · smugness · braggadocio · self-aggrandizement · swagger · preening
dramatic
Strikingly expressive or sudden
- melodramaticExaggeratedly emotional in expression
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
- overactingExcessive theatrical performance
hamming · performance · spectacle · showmanship · flamboyance · theatrics · scene-stealing · exaggeration · bombast · affectation
- bad behaviorcheating, stealing, lying, greed, selfishness
- dramatic behaviortantrum, outburst, meltdown, scene, fit
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, braggadocio, self-aggrandizement
- egotismarrogant, conceited, egocentric, egomaniac, egotist
- insincerityinsincerity, phoniness, fakeness, falseness, pretense
- oratorypublic speaking, speeches, oration, orations, addresses
grandstandingsincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
earnestness · authenticity · good faith · honest work · unpretentiousness
grandstandingmodesty
Absence of vanity
humility · self-effacement · keeping a low profile · understatement · unpretentiousness
grandstandingsubstance
Physical material with mass
getting things done · effectiveness · follow-through · walking the walk · putting in the work
grandstand, grandstander, grandstands, playacting, grandstanded, showboating, grandstanders