bombast English · revision 380

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɒmbæst/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbɑmbæst/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of obsolete ''bombace'' “raw cotton, cotton padding”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|fro|bombace|t=cotton, cotton wadding]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-med|bombax|t=cotton]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) itself an alteration of [[la|bombyx|t=silk, silkworm]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) [[der|grc|βόμβυξ|tr=bómbux]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) Barnhart suggests the final ''-t'' came from ''bombast'', the past participle of an obsolete verb ''bombase'' “to stuff with cotton”.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Raw cotton, and cotton wool used to pad clothes (1568–1572).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From padding that swelled out a garment, the word was transferred to padded, inflated language with little substance (1589).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The verb ''to bombast'' “to render grandiose” was already in use by 1573,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and the adjective ''bombastic'' followed in 1704, after earlier ''bombastical'' (1649).^(Barnhart 1995) The literal sense is now obsolete.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1568 – raw cotton, cotton wool (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1572 – cotton used as padding for clothes.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1573 – verb, to make a speech grandiose with inflated words.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1589 – inflated, high-sounding language.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1704 – the adjective ''bombastic''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Pompous, high-flown speech or writing out of proportion to its subject.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Cotton or other material used to pad clothes.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bombaster]]

+ * [[bombastic]]

+ * [[bombastically]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bombazine]]

+ * [[fustian]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Of its near synonyms, ''bombast'' stresses inflated style, ''rant'' violent and turgid speech, ''fustian'' a pretentious style around absurd or commonplace content, ''claptrap'' insincere, empty talk, and ''rodomontade'' boastful bluster.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}