Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To show; make a display of; flourish.
- noun The act of showing, or an act which shows; hence, manifestation; indication; display; profession.
- noun Aspect; air; manner; mien.
- noun That which is pointed out as strange or alarming; a sign; portent; wonder; prodigy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Appearance; air; mien.
- noun Manifestation; token; portent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
appearance ;air ;mien - noun
manifestation ;token ;portent
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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After a Sydney-wide ineluctable ostent — for Lo! the sky turned blood red and all took on a Martian hue — the Six Sennight Remedial Treatment for Elimination of Superfluity of the Central Circumferences for the Young At Heart Though Not in Years has arrived through the good offices of the local dak wallah.
Are we meat eaters or vegetarians? Part II | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. 2009
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In the city of glorious ostent and vanity, he had come to look for humility and peace.
Where the Blue Begins Christopher Morley 1923
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They resented this ostent of entry; the men more sullenly than the women, some of whom in their hearts could not help admiring its high-and-mighty insolence.
Lady Good-for-Nothing Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903
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Fearless of scoffing, and of the ostent, let us take our stand, our ground, and never desert it, to confront the growing excess and arrogance of realism.
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What, even of the best and most successful, would be justified by itself alone? by the present, or the material ostent alone?
Preface, 1876, To the Two-Volume Centennial Edition of L. of G. and “Two Rivulets.” Collect 1892
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But the ostent continuously imposing, who is not aware that any such living fountains of belief in them are now utterly ceasd and departed from the minds of men?
Notes (Such as They Are) Founded on Elias Hicks. November Boughs 1892
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Of the war itself, we know in the ostent what has been done.
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But the ostent continuously imposing, who is not aware that any such living fountains of belief in them are now utterly ceas'd and departed from the minds of men?
November Boughs ; from Complete Poetry and Collected Prose 1855
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Fearless of scoffing, and of the ostent, let us take our stand, our ground, and never desert it, to confront the growing excess and arrogance of realism.
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Of the war itself, we know in the ostent what has been done.
she commented on the word ostent
n., a sign or wonder, a portent (From Latin word meaning 'something shown;' see also: ostentiferous)
July 9, 2008
qms commented on the word ostent
Is this how our twigs should be bent?
The goblin’s example has meant
The way to succeed
Is easy indeed,
With bluster and pompous ostent.
November 6, 2018