核心畫面

Ostentatious can be pictured as something turned so that you cannot fail to see it. The point is never how much a thing cost or how much feeling went into an act; the point is that it has been placed where an audience will catch it. A watch worn on the outside of a sleeve, a bunch of flowers too big for the table, a sigh loud enough for the back of the room — the same move each time. That is why the word so rarely sounds like praise: saying it names the wish to be seen.

ostentatious 可以想成「東西被特地轉向外面,讓你想不看到都難」。重點從來不是它值多少,也不是那個動作有多更多收起ostentatious 可以想成「東西被特地轉向外面,讓你想不看到都難」。重點從來不是它值多少,也不是那個動作有多真心,而是它被擺在會被看見的位置。袖口外面的大手錶、桌上放不下的花束、整間房都聽得到的嘆氣,都是同一個動作。所以這個字很少像在稱讚:講出這個字,等於在說「這是想被看見的」。

From the word’s history

The source dates the word to 1590 and analyses it as Latin ostentātus plus -ious. The idea of putting something on show is therefore in the word from the start, which is why senses about money and senses about pure display sit together under it.

字典記這個字在 1590 年代進入英文,來自拉丁文 ostentātus 加上字尾 -ious。「擺出來給人看」這個意思從一開始就在字裡,所以講錢的用法和純粹講排場的用法,才會共用同一個字。

Wiktionary (kaikki extract kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:826040991:23691), ostentatious: 'Originated 1590; from Latin ostentātus + -ious.'

From the picture

刻意做給人看

把錢從畫面裡拿掉,只留下「擺出來給人看」的那一半。動作本身可以完全不花錢,字還是成立。

adjective · C2

Used about something done in such an obvious, showy way that people are certain to notice it.

刻意做給人看的

Also in this word

adjective · C1

Used about a thing that is made or chosen to look very expensive, so that everyone notices it and thinks its owner must be rich.

招搖的、炫富的(東西)

adjective · C1

Used about a person who likes to let other people see how much money they have.

愛炫耀的(人)