Definition of AGGRANDIZE

Other Words from aggrandize

aggrandizement \ə-ˈgran-dəz-mənt,

-ˌdīz- also ˌa-grən-ˈdīz- \ noun

aggrandizer \ə-ˈgran-ˌdī-zər

also ˈa-grən- \ noun

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. . . ."

Examples of aggrandize in a Sentence

a movie that aggrandizes the bad guys and makes the cops look like dopes a generous grant, enabling the library to significantly aggrandize its collection of books on tape

Recent Examples on the Web

Theranos' second-in-command was Sunny Balwani, her combative and self-aggrandizing boyfriend. — Kevin Nguyen, GQ, "Bad Blood Review: The Biggest Scam in Silicon Valley," 21 May 2018 But the movie is slightly ahead of the curve in branding Assange as a self-aggrandizing hustler. — Noel Murray, The Verge, "Why The Fifth Estate is the perfect thing to stream this weekend," 11 May 2018 This self-aggrandizing, reality-denying flavor of egotism has defined Trump for decades, through his roller-coaster business career and into political life. — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s Reality Distortion Field Could be a Huge Asset for Democrats This Fall," 28 Apr. 2018 But rarely have two advisers been as publicly praised or as internally aggrandized as national security adviser John Bolton and top economist Larry Kudlow, who entered the West Wing this month from perches at cable television networks. — Kevin Liptak, CNN, "Bolton, Kudlow on the rise, but risks abound," 19 Apr. 2018 Russell Westbrook won last year at Oklahoma City in an offense that allowed him to aggrandize his own statistics, putting up a season-long triple-double for a team that bowed in the first round of the playoffs to Harden's Rockets. — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers 2018: The case for LeBron James as MVP -- Bill Livingston (photos)," 8 Apr. 2018 But with witty, self-aware yet self-aggrandizing remarks like that, Daniels has been established, in some 30 minutes of airtime, as a defining figure of a presidency that had so far seemed to allow only one. — Daniel D'addario, Time, "The Reality Show President Has Met His Match in Stormy Daniels," 27 Mar. 2018 Nothing fancy here — no silences or syncopations, no intricate passagework, no self-aggrandizing musical effects. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Yes, magician Penn can play jazz bass and proves it at Green Mill," 25 Mar. 2018 The results are sweet if a little self-aggrandizing. — John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press, "See popular Oscar-nominated shorts program at the DIA beginning this weekend," 8 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aggrandize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for aggrandize

borrowed (with assimilation of the ending to -ize) from French agrandiss-, stem of agrandir, going back to Old French, from a-, verb-forming prefix (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + -grandir, verbal derivative of grand "large, great," going back to Latin grandis "fully grown, large, great" — more at grand entry 1

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