Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bloviate

/ˈbloʊ.viˌeɪt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.16 in modern English

Syllables: blovi-ate
IPA: /ˈbloʊ.viˌeɪt/

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To speak or discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

American usage; Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"Peter P. Low, Esq., will with open throat…bloviate about the farmers being taxed upon the full value of their farms, while bankers are released from taxation."
"His passion when bloviating was furious and terrible to look upon; but there was nothing to it more than sound and pretense."
"“The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me,” he said on “This Week,” the ABC News program."
"And in turn, more complex ones: could his son have become Boris Johnson, bloviating commentator and one-time prime minister of Britain, without one [a nanny]?"

Etymology

1845, US, Ohio, from blow (“speak idly, boast”) + -i- + -ate, by analogy with deviate.

Usage

American usage
Intransitive verb

Inflected Forms

bloviates (present, singular) bloviating (participle, present) bloviated (participle, past) bloviated (past)

Derived Forms

bloviatingly bloviation bloviative bloviator bloviatory bloviatrix

Frequently Paired Words

blowhard windbag

Questions

How do you pronounce bloviate?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbloʊ.viˌeɪt/.
What does bloviate mean?: To speak or discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner.
Where does bloviate come from?: 1845, US, Ohio, from blow (“speak idly, boast”) + -i- + -ate, by analogy with deviate.

How to pronounce bloviate

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bloviate”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbloʊ.viˌeɪt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bloviate”.
Repeat and practice — Say “bloviate” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.