How to Use ostentation in a Sentence

ostentation

noun
Definition of ostentationnext
Synonyms for ostentationnext
  • He writes simply and clearly and without ostentation.
  • The actress avoids ostentation. She owns a small house and drives an inexpensive car.
  • Paint did not get off to such a good start in the New World, where the Puritans frowned on ostentation.
    — Adam Seessel, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2019
  • For the Puccis, the ease of their getaway house more than compensates for its lack of ostentation.
    — Ingrid Abramovitch, ELLE Decor, 4 Aug. 2022
  • There had been signs of ostentation creep before the Leonardo sale.
    — James Atlas, Town & Country, 8 Feb. 2018
  • While the Airpods Max, by contrast, please in their smack-dab ostentation.
    — André-Naquian Wheeler, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2023
  • For all the ostentation, for all the millions spent, this was a day for all generations and all people.
    — Aimee Lewis, CNN, 19 May 2018
  • The Oscars are supposed to be a night for unabashed, cheesy ostentation!
    — Vulture, 10 Mar. 2023
  • But ostentation, in the words of that old American clergyman, is the signal flag of hypocrisy.
    — John Hirschauer, National Review, 25 Sep. 2019
  • Young leads a life notorious among the 49ers for its lack of ostentation.
    — Johnny Miller, SFChronicle.com, 12 July 2018
  • Maybe that's why fans love them, despite their ostentation.
    — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, 26 June 2019
  • Rain fell in the overnight hours with little ostentation but dogged persistence.
    — Washington Post, 26 Apr. 2021
  • In the weird and cultish world of credit card ostentation, AmEx remains the ultimate status symbol.
    — Jennifer Surane, Bloomberg.com, 13 Dec. 2022
  • There is leisure, by some assumed to be the basis of culture, by others to be a form of ostentation, not at all to be associated with culture.
    — Marilynne Robinson, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019
  • But among the event’s ostentation, one aspect was noticeably modest: the royal garb.
    — Katie Thornton, The Atlantic, 26 Sep. 2022
  • So, like any sneaker that cranks itself to 11 on the ostentation scale, these Raf x Adidas sneakers fit best with wide-leg trousers that can stand up to all that extra real estate on your feet.
    — Jake Woolf, GQ, 7 Mar. 2018
  • By the early 1990s, the ostentation of Dallas, Dynasty, and their many imitators had paled into a punchline.
    — Joanna Scutts, Curbed, 14 Aug. 2019
  • Once upon a time, horseless carriages were a luxury item, crafted from the finest of materials to wrap an owner in wealth and ostentation.
    — Jack Stewart, Wired News, 11 Mar. 2018
  • Quite often, those investments include yachts and jets, some of which are marvels of luxury and ostentation.
    — Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2021
  • There was no pretense or ostentation here, no fancy finger work for its own sake, just jazz standards dispatched simply and directly, with very little fuss and a great deal of warmth.
    — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 23 June 2017
  • The interiors are relatively forgettable but in a town marked by ostentation, the crowd counts for more than the surroundings.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 19 May 2022
  • Sir Hugh Casson, the director of architecture at the 1951 Festival of Britain, was the perfect candidate, with his modern eye and lack of ostentation.
    — Anna Fixsen, ELLE Decor, 8 Nov. 2022
  • In a music world that so often prizes volume and ostentation above all else, Riccards — who moved from New York to Chicago in 2011 — represents a welcome alternative.
    — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 11 May 2017
  • There is no swimming pool, none of the ostentation that characterizes other narco properties in Sinaloa.
    — AndrÉs Villarreal, Chron, 14 Sep. 2021
  • Sunday afternoon at Walt Disney Concert Hall, his arm movements lacked ostentation and could barely be seen from behind.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Free of crowds, ostentation, tracts of cookie-cutter condos and franchise mall fare like Nordstrom and Forever 21, Telluride is independent and feels that way.
    — Alex Bhattacharji, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Dec. 2018
  • The Sun King inherited his flair for ostentation from his Medici great-grandmother, Catherine.
    — Caroline Weber, Town & Country, 30 Oct. 2022
  • Our narrator writes with playful ostentation about subjects that demand it.
    — Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 31 May 2017
  • For my wife, who is not a sports fan and grew up in Indiana, the discordant ostentation offered a note of inclusiveness in an otherwise severe and insular sporting culture.
    — Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2019
  • As a private citizen, Mr. Mwinyi lived without ostentation and was photographed traveling by public transport.
    — Alan Cowell, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ostentation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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