- pompous
- late 14c., "characterized by exaggerated self-importance," from O.Fr. pompeux, from L.L. pomposus "stately, pompous," from L. pompa "pomp" (see pomp). More literal, but less common, meaning "characterized by pomp" is attested from 1430. Pomposity is first recorded 1432, from L.L. pompositas, from pomposus "stately, pompous." The sense of "ostentatious display" is from 1620, earlier in Fr. pomposité.