words which sound important but have little meaning, used to impress people 华而不实的言辞;大话 His speech was full of bombast. 他的讲演通篇是夸夸其谈。
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting raw cotton or cotton wool used as padding, later used figuratively): from Old French bombace, from medieval Latin bombax, bombac-, alteration of bombyx , based on Greek bombux ‘silkworm’.