different between bombast vs rhetoric

English

Etymology

From Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”), from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), a variant of bombyx (“silkworm”), from Ancient Greek ?????? (bómbux, “silkworm”), possibly related to Middle Persian pmbk' (“cotton”), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to twist, wind”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?mbæst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?mbæst/
• Hyphenation: bom?bast

Noun

bombast (countable and uncountable, plural bombasts)

1. (archaic) Cotton, or cotton wool.

   Synonym: fustian
2. (archaic) Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for garments; stuffing, padding.
3. (figuratively) High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking.

   Synonyms: aureation, (obsolete) bombard phrase, fustian, grandiloquence, purple prose

Derived terms

• bombastic
• bombastical
• bombastically
• bombastry

Translations

Verb

bombast (third-person singular simple present bombasts, present participle bombasting, simple past and past participle bombasted)

1. To swell or fill out; to inflate, to pad.
2. To use high-sounding words; to speak or write in a pompous or ostentatious manner.

Translations

Adjective

bombast (comparative more bombast, superlative most bombast)

1. Big without meaning, or high-sounding; bombastic, inflated; magniloquent.

   Synonyms: aureate, highfalutin

References

Further reading

• fustian on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• rhetorick (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French rhetorique, from Latin rh?torica, from Ancient Greek ???????? (rh?torik?), ellipsis of ???????? ????? (rh?torik? tékhn?), from ????????? (rh?torikós, “concerning public speech”), from ????? (rh?t?r, “public speaker”).

Pronunciation

• (adjective): IPA^(key): /???t???k/
• (noun): IPA^(key): /???t???k/

Adjective

rhetoric

1. Synonym of rhetorical.

Noun

rhetoric (countable and uncountable, plural rhetorics)

1. The art of using language, especially public speaking, as a means to persuade.
2. Meaningless language with an exaggerated style intended to impress.

   It’s only so much rhetoric.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "rhetoric":
  • (by kind or area of application) political, legal, visual, classical, ancient
  • (by quality) violent, empty, inflammatory, hateful, heated, fiery, vitriolic, angry, overheated, extreme

Synonyms

• wordcraft

Derived terms

• rhetorical
• rhetorician

Related terms

Translations

See also

• preterition
• Appendix:Glossary of rhetoric

Anagrams

• torchier