different between pompous vs highfalutin

English

Etymology

From Middle English pompous, from Old French pompeux, from Late Latin pomposus, from Latin pompa (“pomp”), from Ancient Greek ????? (pomp?, “a sending, a solemn procession, pomp”), from ????? (pémp?, “I send”). Doublet of pomposo.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?mp?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?mp?s/

Adjective

pompous (comparative more pompous, superlative most pompous)

1. Affectedly grand, solemn or self-important.
   • 1848, Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vanity Fair, Bantam Classics (1997), 16:

     "Not that the parting speech caused Amelia to philosophise, or that it armed her in any way with a calmness, the result of argument; but it was intolerably dull, pompous, and tedious; and having the fear of her schoolmistress greatly before her eyes, Miss Samuel did not venture, in her presence, to give way to any ebullitions of private grief."

Synonyms

• conceited
• smug
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• self-effacing

Related terms

• pomp
• pomposity
• pompously

Translations

Further reading

• pompous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pompous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pompous at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Alternative forms

• hifalutin, hifalutin', hifalutin’, hifaluting
• highfalutin', highfalutin’, highfaluting
• high-falutin, high-falutin', high-falutin’, high-faluting
• high falutin, high falutin', high falutin’, high faluting

Etymology

Possible alteration of high-fluting. Another speculation connects the term with high-flighting/-flying.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?ha?.f??lu.t?n/, /?ha?.f??lu.t?n/

Adjective

highfalutin (comparative more highfalutin, superlative most highfalutin)

1. (informal) Self-important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical.

   Synonyms: bombast, hoity-toity, pretentious

Translations

Noun

highfalutin (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Pompous speech or writing.

Further reading

• highfalutin at OneLook Dictionary Search
• highfalutin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.