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Literary notes about Pompous (AI summary)

In literature, the term "pompous" is frequently employed to convey an air of inflated self-importance or affected decorum. Authors use it to critique characters or institutions that indulge in grandiose displays, whether through their speech or ceremonial conduct. For instance, an early American political text warns against adopting "pompous or dazling Expressions" as unbecoming [1], while historical narratives depict ostentatious receptions and displays of power with a similar critical tone [2]. Novelists also assign the adjective to characters whose exaggerated self-regard renders them tiresome or pretentious [3], and satirical works use it to mock grand theories and bombastic declarations [4]. Across genres, "pompous" thus serves as a versatile shorthand for criticism of pretension and inflated dignity.
  1. Yet let him not affect pompous or dazling Expressions, for such belong to Epicks , or Tragedians .
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  2. The magnificent and pompous reception which the powerful rtes and all of us, on our entrance into the great city of Mexico 220 Chap.
    — from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo
  3. She was bright, and kind, and sociable, and agreeable; and Mrs Jamieson was dull, and inert, and pompous, and tiresome.
    — from Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
  4. The whole may also be considered as a satire on those who spin pompous theories out of nothing.
    — from Protagoras by Plato

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