pride

noun

\ ˈprīd

Essential Meaning of pride

1 : a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people : self-respect Being able to work again gave him his pride back. Getting caught cheating stripped him of his pride. See More ExamplesPride would not allow her to give up. It's a matter of pride that he does the work all by himself.Hide

2 : a feeling that you are more important or better than other people The novel is about a family consumed with pride and vanity. They needed help, but their pride wouldn't let them ask for it. I had to swallow my pride and admit I made a mistake.

3 : a feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does something good, difficult, etc. The sight of her son holding the trophy filled her with pride. [=made her very proud] She spoke with pride [=she spoke proudly] about her son's achievements. See More ExamplesShe looked at her painting with pride. [=satisfaction] He takes pride in [=is proud of] his work. He showed a great/immense pride in his family.Hide

Full Definition of pride

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : the quality or state of being proud: such as

a : inordinate self-esteem : conceit

b : a reasonable or justifiable self-respect

c : delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship parental pride

2 : proud or disdainful behavior or treatment : disdain

3a : ostentatious display

b : highest pitch : prime

4 : a source of pride : the best in a group or class

5 : a company of lions

6 : a showy or impressive group a pride of dancers

pride

verb

prided; priding

Definition of pride (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to indulge (oneself) in pride —now usually used in the phrase pride oneself on to describe taking pride in some ability, quality, etc. She was a girl who prided herself on her carefully blasé and supercilious attitude towards life.— P. G. Wodehouse

Pride

biographical name

\ ˈprīd

Definition of Pride (Entry 3 of 3)

Thomas died 1658 English Parliamentarian commander

Synonyms Vanity vs. Pride More Example Sentences Learn More About pride

Vanity vs. Pride

People often turn to the dictionary in search of the minute and subtle differences between two similar words. The closely related duo of vanity and pride, which overlap significantly in some respects yet differ in others, offer one such example. Putting aside such uses as pride referring to “a company of lions” and vanity meaning “a dressing table,” each of these words may refer to a state of excessive self-esteem. However, pride may also signify a feeling of satisfaction or happiness (either in oneself or on behalf of others) based on something that is well done; vanity is unlikely to be used in this manner. For a well-worded explanation of this distinction, we might look to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in which the character Mary opines: “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

Examples of pride in a Sentence

Noun Being able to work again gave him his pride back. Getting caught cheating stripped him of his pride. Pride would not allow her to give up. It's a matter of pride that he does the work all by himself. The novel is about a family consumed with pride and vanity. They needed help, but their pride wouldn't let them ask for it. I had to swallow my pride and admit I made a mistake. He showed a great pride in his family. These young people are the pride of their community. Verb he prides himself on the quality of his writing

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Also, the Village Board in both towns faced opposition from residents when trustees ultimately denied requests to fly a gay pride flag at Village Hall. — Elizabeth Owens-schiele, chicagotribune.com, 4 Jan. 2022 The stakes could not have been lower: Both teams were lousy, and with only two weeks left in the long season, there was little to play for but pride. — Jamie Lauren Keiles Ismail Muhammad Kim Tingley Benoit Denizet-lewis Sam Anderson Jazmine Hughes Irina Aleksander Sasha Weiss Rowan Ricardo Phillips Stella Bugbee Michael Paterniti Maggie Jones Robert Draper Rob Hoerburger Jason Zengerle Reginald Dwayne Betts Jane Hu David Marchese Hanif Abdurraqib Jenna Wortham Anthony Giardina Niela Orr Amy X. Wang, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2021 And the City Council of Roseville, California, voted this summer not to fly the pride flag or other non-governmental flags at their city hall. — Nick Watt And Jason Kravarik, CNN, 18 Dec. 2021 Summit View Elementary special education kindergarten teacher Sarah Whaley pinned a LGBTQ pride flag in her classroom and refused to take it down after being ordered to do so by the school district. — Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 Dec. 2021 Among the posts are a video of individuals wearing skull face masks giving the Nazi salute, footage of a speech with audio from Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister for the Nazi Party, and images of a gay pride flag being burned. — Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 9 Dec. 2021 The younger Bess, a social media influencer on Twitch and YouTube, identifies as pansexual and is bringing a pride flag into space. — Richard Tribou, orlandosentinel.com, 2 Dec. 2021 Russell Ball, a teacher who worked at Three Rivers Middle School, resigned after receiving an email from the school principal this month asking educators to take down all pride flags in classrooms, WWMT reported. — al, 30 Nov. 2021 Naven, an aspiring paleontologist, expanded his basement menagerie and hung a pink, white and blue transgender pride flag above the dining table. — Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Diehard sports fans pride themselves on knowing every statistic, no matter how obscure, but most have forgotten all about a young man named Mack who made news on a high school wrestling mat just four years ago. — Dawn Ennis, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2021 Lawmakers pride themselves on their annual approval of the National Defense Authorization Act, which outlines defense policy for the coming fiscal year. — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 22 Dec. 2021 Johnson and Geddes pride themselves on finding unique accommodations. — Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 28 Nov. 2021 Santa Feans pride themselves on their blasé attitude toward celebrity, which likely adds to the town’s filming appeal. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2021 Even in wealthy countries that typically pride themselves on having an open wallet for international aid, such as Germany, the prospect of adding a bill for loss and damage drew a skeptical response. — Sarah Kaplan And Brady Dennis, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Nov. 2021 Even in wealthy countries that typically pride themselves on having an open wallet for international aid, such as Germany, the prospect of adding a bill for loss and damage drew a skeptical response. — Sarah Kaplan And Brady Dennis, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Nov. 2021 Even in wealthy countries that typically pride themselves on having an open wallet for international aid, such as Germany, the prospect of adding a bill for loss and damage drew a skeptical response. — Sarah Kaplan And Brady Dennis, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Nov. 2021 Even in wealthy countries that typically pride themselves on having an open wallet for international aid, such as Germany, the prospect of adding a bill for loss and damage drew a skeptical response. — Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2021

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