Word of the Day

: May 8, 2009

aggrandize

verb uh-GRAN-dyze

What It Means

1 : to increase or enlarge

2 : to praise highly

3 : to enhance the power, wealth, position, or reputation of

aggrandize in Context

The organization’s spokesperson seemed to be more interested in aggrandizing herself than in raising money for charity.

Did You Know?

"Aggrandize" has enhanced the English vocabulary since the early 17th century. English speakers adapted "agrandiss-," the stem of the French verb "agrandir," to form "aggrandize," and later used the French form "agrandissement" as the basis of the noun "aggrandizement." (The root of "agrandiss-" is Latin; it comes from "grandis," meaning "great.") Nowadays, both noun and verb are regularly paired (somewhat disparagingly) with the prefix "self-" to refer to individuals bent on glorifying themselves, as in the following sentence by Barbara Buchholz which appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1995: "Celebrity authors eager to reveal all, self-aggrandize and wear their royalties in expensive attire. . . ."