ostentation
Excessive showy behavior
Ostentation is showy display meant to impress others with wealth, importance, or skill.
The word carries negative connotations—suggesting the display is excessive or in poor taste: The mansion's gold fixtures were pure ostentation.
Someone who avoids ostentation lives modestly despite having means.
The adjective ostentatious describes people or things characterized by such showiness.
Ostentatious showiness
- glamourFascinating, elegant attractiveness
- flashinessOstentatious showiness
- gaudinessTasteless, excessive ornamentation
- flairStylish natural aptitude
panache · pizzazz · razzle-dazzle · theatricality · showmanship · splashiness · swank · sparkle
Visually striking event
- pageantryElaborate ceremonial display
- paradeCeremonial public procession
- flourishTo grow vigorously
- fanfareCeremonial brass announcement
pomp · ceremony · grandstanding · showpiece · exhibition · showcase · demonstration · tableau
Artificial behavior for effect
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- posturingInsincere behavior for effect
- pomposityExaggerated sense of importance
vanity · self-importance · airs · pretentiousness · snobbery · haughtiness · showing off · braggadocio
Showy, abundant prosperity
- lavishnessExcessive richness or abundance
- sumptuousnessExtreme costly elegance
- excessSurplus beyond need
- profligacyReckless, wasteful extravagance
decadence · splurge · wastefulness · immoderation · grandiosity · prodigality · extravaganza · indulgence
glitz
Ostentatious showiness
- glamourFascinating, elegant attractiveness
- flashinessOstentatious showiness
- gaudinessTasteless, excessive ornamentation
flair · panache · pizzazz · razzle-dazzle · theatricality · showmanship · splashiness · swank · sparkle · loudness
spectacle
Visually striking event
fanfare · pomp · ceremony · grandstanding · showpiece · exhibition · showcase · demonstration · tableau · unveiling
affectation
Artificial behavior for effect
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- posturingInsincere behavior for effect
pomposity · vanity · self-importance · airs · pretentiousness · snobbery · haughtiness · showing off · braggadocio · boastfulness
opulence
Showy, abundant prosperity
- lavishnessExcessive richness or abundance
- sumptuousnessExtreme costly elegance
- excessSurplus beyond need
profligacy · decadence · splurge · wastefulness · immoderation · grandiosity · prodigality · extravaganza · indulgence · overindulgence
luxury
Expensive nonessential comfort
magnificence · grandeur · elegance · gilt · velvet · silk · marble · chandeliers · mansions · yachts
gaudy
Tastelessly ornate
baroque · rococo · overwrought · elaborate · embellished · bejeweled · gilded · tawdry · kitsch · meretricious
- collective nounsflock, herd, school, pack, swarm
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, showboating, braggadocio
- opulenceluxury, wealth, affluence, extravagance, opulence
- ornateornate, elaborate, embellished, decorative, ornamental
- showing offboasting, bragged, show off, bragging, boasted
- tackinesstackiness, gaudiness, garishness, tawdriness, trashiness
ostentationunderstatement
Intentional diminishment for effect
restraint · unobtrusiveness · unpretentiousness · reserve · discretion
ostentationmodesty
Absence of vanity
humility · humbleness · unpretentiousness · self-effacement · diffidence
ostentationsimplicity
Lack of complexity
minimalism · austerity · plainness · spareness · severity