ostentation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Pretentious display meant to impress others; pretentious showiness.
• noun Archaic The act or an instance of showing; an exhibition.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Display; especially, public display.
• noun A sight or spectacle; show; ceremony.
• noun Ambitious display; pretentious parade; vain show; display intended to excite admiration or applause.
• noun Synonyms Show, Display, Parade, Ostentation, flourish, dash. Show is the most general word for the purposed exhibition of that which might have been kept private; as such, it includes the others. Ostentation is always bad; the others may be good in certain relations. Parade and display are more suggestive of the simple act, ostentation of the spirit: as, to make a parade of one's learning; it was ostentation that led the Pharisees to make a parade or display of their charities and prayers. Parade is a matter of vanity; ostentation, of vanity, pride, or ambition.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of ostentating or of making an ambitious display; unnecessary show; pretentious parade; -- usually in a detractive sense.
• noun obsolete A show or spectacle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Ambitious display; vain show; display intended to excite admiration or applause.
• noun obsolete A show or spectacle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a gaudy outward display
• noun pretentious or showy or vulgar display
• noun lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity