Grandiose

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Grandiose \Gran"di*ose"\, a. [F. grandiose, It. grandioso. See
     {Grand}.]
     1. Impressive or elevating in effect; imposing; splendid;
        striking; -- in a good sense.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              The tone of the parts was to be perpetually kept
              down in order not to impair the grandiose effect of
              the whole.                            --M. Arnold.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The grandiose red tulips which grow wild. --C.
                                                    Kingsley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor;
        flaunting; turgid; bombastic; -- in a bad sense; as, a
        grandiose style.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  grandiose
       adj 1: impressive because of unnecessary largeness or grandeur;
              used to show disapproval
       2: affectedly genteel [syn: {hifalutin}, {highfalutin}, {highfaluting},
           {hoity-toity}, {la-di-da}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  103 Moby Thesaurus words for "grandiose":
     Babylonian, Corinthian, Gongoresque, Johnsonian, affected,
     ambitious, august, awe-inspiring, awful, barbaric, bedizened,
     big-sounding, bombastic, convoluted, cosmic, declamatory, deluxe,
     elaborate, elegant, elevated, euphuistic, extravagant, fancy, fine,
     flamboyant, flaming, flash, flashy, flaunting, florid, fulsome,
     fustian, garish, gaudy, glorious, grand, grandiloquent,
     grandisonant, high-flowing, high-flown, high-flying, high-sounding,
     highfalutin, histrionic, imposing, impressive, inflated, inkhorn,
     labyrinthine, lexiphanic, lofty, lordly, lurid, luxurious,
     magnificent, magniloquent, majestic, melodramatic, meretricious,
     monumental, noble, orotund, ostentatious, overambitious, overdone,
     overelaborate, overinvolved, overwhelming, overwrought, palatial,
     pedantic, plush, pompous, posh, pretentious, princely, proud,
     rhetorical, ritzy, royal, sensational, sensationalistic,
     sententious, showy, sonorous, splendacious, splendid,
     splendiferous, stately, stilted, sumptuous, superb, superfancy,
     superfine, swank, swanky, swell, tall, tortuous, unfathomable,
     utopian, vast, visionary