bumptious means obtrusively pushy; self-important; self-assertive to a pretentious extreme.
bumptious is pronounced /ˈbʌmpʃəs/.
Why “bumptious” is a great word
Obtrusively and self-assertively pushy to a point of being offensively conceited. From bump (suggesting a crude, jostling manner) + the suffix -tious (as in fractious or presumptuous). First attested around 1801. Unlike assertive, which suggests confident self-expression, or pretentious, which implies a hollow performance of worth, bumptious centers on a grating, ill-mannered pushiness. It is the colleague who elbows to the front, the voice that rises above all others without ever rising to anything worth hearing, the presence that doesn't enter a room so much as knock it askew—a collision of ego against the world, leaving only the warmth of friction.
Etymology
Probably from bump, on the pattern of words like fractious or presumptious.
adj
- Obtrusively pushy; self-important; self-assertive to a pretentious extreme.e.g.“[…”
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