rodomontade

noun

ro·do·mon·tade ˌrä-də-mən-ˈtād

ˌrō-,

-ˈtäd

variants or less commonly rhodomontade

Synonyms of rodomontade next

next

1

: a bragging speech

2

: vain boasting or bluster : rant

Did you know?

Rodomontade (which can also be spelled rhodomontade) originated in Italian poetry. Rodomonte was a fierce and boastful king in Orlando Innamorato, Count Matteo M. Boiardo's late 15th century epic, and later in the 1516 sequel Orlando Furioso, written by poet Lodovico Ariosto. In the late 16th century, English speakers began to use rodomont as a noun meaning "braggart." Soon afterwards, rodomontade entered the language as a noun meaning "empty bluster" or "bragging speech," and later as an adjective meaning "boastful" or "ranting."

Examples of rodomontade in a Sentence

for all of its jingoistic rodomontade, the government had no thought-out plan for the war and its aftermath

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from rodomont blusterer, from Italian Rodomonte, character in Orlando Innamorato by Matteo M. Boiardo

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of rodomontade was in 1591

See more words from the same year

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rodomontade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rodomontade. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

scintilla

Listen to the pronunciation of scintilla

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!