pompous

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pompous, also pompes, pompis and pompius,^[2] borrowed from Old French pompos, later pompeux,^[3][2][4] and directly borrowed from Late Latin pompōsus (“stately, pompous”),^[3][5][2][6] from pompa (“pomp”) and the suffix -ōsus.^[7][8][9] The OED takes it from pompeux, which in the 14th and 15th centuries described a person who was ridiculously solemn, an act that was very solemn and a procession that was magnificent, and it dates the Latin adjective to the 5th century.^[7] The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ, “a solemn procession, display, escort”), literally "a sending", from πέμπω (pémpō, “to send”), a verb of unknown origin.^[3] The OED compares pomposo, pomposo, pompós and pomposo.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Showing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance; ostentatious, pretentious: about 1375, in Chaucer's Monk's Tale, of a king "moore pompous of array" than any emperor.^[7][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word began with the bad sense, self-important or showy, and the neutral or approving sense "magnificent, stately", closer to pomp itself, is recorded only from about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book.^[7][3][2] That second sense was the one Johnson put first in 1755 ("splendid; magnificent; grand"),^[10] but it is now archaic and literary,^[7] or rare.^[11][12] In the 15th century the word could also mean fierce or formidable, as of captains "in armys ful pompous".^[2][3] Of speech and writing it came to mean inflated or grandiloquent.^[7][12] A use as an adverb, "pompously", is recorded once, in 1754.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – self-important, ostentatious, in Chaucer.^[7][2][5]
• c. 1425 – magnificent, stately, in Lydgate.^[7][2]
• before 1439 – fierce, formidable (obsolete).^[2]
• 1754 – adverb, pompously (obsolete).^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having or showing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or dignity; self-important: a pompous little official who loved his rubber stamp.^[8][12][7]
2. Of language or style: too grand for its subject; inflated or bombastic.^[12][7][6]
3. (archaic) Marked by pomp or stately display; magnificent.^[12][7][11]

Word family

• pomposity
• pompously
• pompousness
• unpompous

Related words

• pomp
• pomposo

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins