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showboat

American  
[shoh-boht] / ˈʃoʊˌboʊt /

noun

  1. a boat, especially a paddle-wheel steamer, used as a traveling theater.

  2. Informal. show-off.

  3. a person, especially an athlete, who performs in an ostentatiously sensational manner calculated to draw attention; show-off.

verb (used without object)

  1. to perform or behave in an outrageous or spectacular manner.

showboat British  
/ ˈʃəʊˌbəʊt /

noun

  1. a paddle-wheel river steamer with a theatre and a repertory company

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (intr) to perform or behave in a showy and flamboyant way

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of showboat

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; show + boat

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Emails reveal the wealthy taking proxy measures of one another’s yachts and villas, showboating their riches in ways that make Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” look like a genteel glimpse into society mores.

From The Wall Street Journal

Well, some people see it as showboating; I see it as emotion.

From Salon

There was a moment of showboating followed by several of chaos.

From BBC

Page knocked down Cannonier in the first and second round in a typically entertaining display, combining speed, footwork and distance management with showboating.

From BBC

They go head-to-head in group or knockout stages, and there's plenty of drama, a party in the stands and some showboating alongside it all.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.