What does "bombast" mean?
Cotton, or cotton wool.
Bombast
/ˈbɒmbæst/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Cotton, or cotton wool.
- Grammar: bombast is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: absurdity, amphigory, babble, babblement.
- Useful contrasts: bare silhouette, clarity, conciseness.
- Usage evidence: Tom was full of bombast and pride until a dart flew straight into his forehead.
How to use "bombast"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bombast" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bombast" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bombast" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bombast" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bombast" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "absurdity" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bombast", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Cotton, or cotton wool. archaic, countable, uncountable
"SURBATING; a Diſtemper in a Horſe, who is ſaid to be ſurbated, when the Sole is worn, bruiſed or ſpoiled by travelling without Shoes, or with ill ſhoeing: [...] take Frankincenſe, and rolling it in a little fine Cotton Wool or Bombaſt, with a hot Iron melt it into the Foot betwixt the Shoe and the Toe, until the Orifice, where the Blood was taken away, is fill'd up; [...]"
- 2 pompous or pretentious talk or writing wordnet
- 3 Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for garments; stuffing, padding. archaic, countable, uncountable
"[C]ertayne I am there was neuer any kinde of apparell euer inuented, that could more diſproportion the body of man, then theſe Dublettes with great bellies hanging downe beneath their Pudenda, (as I haue ſayd) & ſtuffed with foure, fiue, or ſixe pound of Bombaſt at the least: [...]"
- 4 High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Bombaſt and Buffoonry, by Nature lofty and light, ſoar higheſt of all, [...]"
Verb
- 1 To swell or fill out; to inflate, to pad.
"Their doctrine is to be seen in Jacob Behmen's books by him that hath nothing else to do, than to bestow a great deal of time to understand him that was not willing to be easily understood, and to know that his bombasted words do signify nothing more than before was easily known by common familiar terms."
- 2 To use high-sounding words; to speak or write in a pompous or ostentatious manner.
"[']The ugly truth is, Gerald,' she said viciously, 'that you're a phoney, a rotten, bombasting phoney, trying to cover up from all the world,[…][']"
Adjective
- 1 Big without meaning, or high-sounding; bombastic, inflated; magniloquent.
"But he (as louing his owne pride, and purpoſes) / Euades them, with a bumbaſt Circumſtance, / Horribly ſtufft with Epithites of warre, / Non-ſuites my Mediators."
Antonyms
Example
"Tom was full of bombast and pride until a dart flew straight into his forehead."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bombast"?
Common synonyms include: absurdity, amphigory, babble, babblement, balderdash, bibble-babble.
How do you use "bombast" in a sentence?
Tom was full of bombast and pride until a dart flew straight into his forehead.
How do you pronounce "bombast"?
Pronounced /ˈbɒmbæst/.
Etymology
From Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”), from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), a variant of bombyx (“silkworm”), from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”), possibly related to Middle Persian pmbk' (“cotton”), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to twist, wind”.