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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.

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

Outside her window, farmland rolls into rocky coastline, hemming a glasslike bay striped with turquoise and populated by showboating dolphins.

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.