as in bumptious
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Recent Examples of self-dramatizing
Like Frey, Lowell was a self-dramatizing fraudster, taking elements of her real life and grandly embellishing them.
—
Michael Waters, New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2026
The Hemingway in the piece is a comic figure—self-dramatizing, repetitive, marooned within his own monologues, and sometimes ridiculously affected.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
In a head-turning breakout performance, Tonatiuh (seen recently in Carry-On) can flip from proud to humiliated, self-dramatizing to selfless, often within a single line reading.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Michael Waters, New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2026
The Hemingway in the piece is a comic figure—self-dramatizing, repetitive, marooned within his own monologues, and sometimes ridiculously affected.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
In a head-turning breakout performance, Tonatiuh (seen recently in Carry-On) can flip from proud to humiliated, self-dramatizing to selfless, often within a single line reading.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-dramatizing
Adjective
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And it’s been a very bumptious relationship ever since.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
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In public, Newsom speaks often and openly about his errors, fortifying his image as a bumptious, slightly hapless victim of his own enthusiasms.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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She’s been warning us since 1818 that vainglorious innovators will destroy the earth.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Melodramatic and vainglorious, moody and capricious, a fidgety, neurotic hypochondriac, Stalin was a bundle of appalling contradictions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The series has devolved into a hysteria that the young and arrogant Timberwolves feed on since that first quarter of Game 2.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
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However, many thought Tilson Thomas too brash and arrogant to lead an orchestra, and, around the same time, Tilson Thomas fell in with New York’s disco-hopping crowd.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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This is, truly, a totally shameless and self-aggrandizing effort on the part of Mayor Trantalis and Commissioner Glassman.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
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The author characterizes Huntington Beach itself as an inherently self-aggrandizing, wealthy coastal enclave unrepresentative of broader California concerns, dismissing the notion that this affluent beach town should serve as a model for statewide governance or the state’s future direction.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Avoid Burying Praise in Negatives To avoid making children too conceited, parents might bury praise in the midst of negatives.—
Wayne Parker,
Parents,
8 Mar. 2026
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The Pitt definitely feels like the type of workplace where conceited doctors-in-training are pretty much guaranteed to quickly get knocked down a peg.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Hathaway gets the most fun part to play in this formidable ensemble, starring as egotistical actress Daphne Kluger, who starts as the mark but ends up enlisting among the thieves.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
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Demolishes the East Wing of the White House on an egotistical whim?—
Mark Barabak,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
Adjective
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That sweet spot between professionalism, entertainment and high-and-mighty disapproval?—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
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Lots of high-and-mighty people populate Tyrrell’s recollections.—
John Fund,
National Review,
26 Nov. 2023
Adjective
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Characters are skewed not to create an evenhanded debate but to sensationalize one, with a young fact-minded novice looking to follow the rules is blindsided by a supercilious writer not willing to bend his vision to the needs of editors, fact checkers or even printers or distributors.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
21 Apr. 2026
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And now the supercilious Ivy League twits try to dodge the consequences of their woke follies.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-dramatizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-dramatizing. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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