bloviate

intr.v. Slang, -at·ed, -at·ing, -ates.
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: "the rural Babbitt who bloviates about 'progress' and 'growth'" (George Rebeck).

[Mock-Latinate formation, from BLOW¹.]

bloviation blo'vi·a'tion n.

(BLO-vee-ayt)

verb intr.
To speak pompously.

Etymology
Pseudo-Latin alteration of blow, to boast; popularized by 29th US President, Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).

Usage
"The Legislature bloviates about protecting our youth and being sure that no one is left behind. But at the first sign of trouble, it's showing indications that it's more concerned with politics than education." — Backing Off in Albany, The Buffalo News, Nov 8, 1999.

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Wordy AND untruthful — that's what New York Times columnist Frank Rich accused Democrats of being, in the Supreme Court nomination hearings:

"Once Judge Alito came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Democrats decided to counter the Republicans' story by coming up with a fictional story of their own, or that's what they did once they stopped bloviating."

Link: Truthiness 101: From Frey to Alito

Posted January 23, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

to orate verbosely or windily