ostentatious
Showy in a way that is meant to impress other people.
ostentatious in a sentence
- The millionaire drove an ostentatious gold car.
- Her ostentatious diamond ring sparkled across the room.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to ostentatious?
- Aplain
- Bmodest
- Cshowy
- Dunderstated
Show the answer
C: showy. The other three mean the opposite of ostentatious.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to ostentatious?
- Ashowy
- Bextravagant
- Cmodest
- Dflashy
Show the answer
C: modest. The other three mean nearly the same as ostentatious.
Words that mean something similar
showy, flashy, extravagant
Words that mean the opposite
modest, plain, understated
Careful: ostentatious is not extravagant
Extravagant is about how much is spent. Ostentatious is about how much it is shown off. Read why children mix them up.
More words about appearance & looks
- outlandish: Very strange and unusual, almost unbelievable.
- parallel: Side by side and always the same distance apart, never meeting.
- peculiar: Strange or unusual.
- preen: To tidy and admire your own appearance.
- pristine: Perfectly clean and unspoilt, like new.
- prominent: Easy to see or notice; standing out.
- quizzical: Showing that you are puzzled or curious, often in a joking way.
- rickety: Old, weak and likely to fall apart.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test