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  1. Dictionary

    bom·bast
    [ˈbämbast]
    Origin
    mid 16th century (denoting raw cotton or cotton wool used as padding, later used figuratively): from Old French bombace, from medieval Latin bombax, bombac-, alteration of bombyx ‘silkworm’ (see bombazine).
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    The adjective bombastic, which followed bombast a century later, has been a favorite choice to describe blowhards, boasters, and cockalorums ever since. Recent Examples on the Web My personal view is that bombast usually indicates exactly the opposite — lack of self-confidence in the decision in that moment.
    Bombast is a noun meaning pretentious or boastful talk. If your football coach is known for his bombast, he probably gives a pompous speech before each game about the greatness of the team and, of course, his coaching. Originally, bombast was cotton padding used to stuff or pad things like seat cushions.
    Bombast first came into English in the late 1500s, where it referred to cotton, and especially cotton that was used to pad out things. In fact, one of our early citations describes that exact action: "To stuff thy doublet full of such bumbaste." The idea of padding led to bombast being playfully applied to thick speech without much heft to it.
    Bombastic, which means "marked by or given to pretentious inflated speech or writing," sure looks like a derivative of the word bomb, but there's no etymological link between the two. Bomb is probably ultimately from a Latin word that means "a deep booming noise," but bombastic is the adjectival offspring of the English word bombast .
  3. bombast noun [ U ] mainly disapproving uk / ˈbɒm.bæst / us / ˈbɑːm.bæst / Add to word list a forceful and confident style that is intended to be very powerful and impressive, but may not have much real meaning or effect:
    dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bombast
    BOMBAST meaning: speech or writing that is meant to sound important or impressive but is not sincere or meaningful
    www.britannica.com/dictionary/bombast
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