Definition of self-aggrandizing
: acting or intended to enhance one's power, wealth, position, or reputation
… staggeringly self-aggrandizing greed and theft …— William J. Astore … a self-aggrandizing cad bent on gathering for himself whatever spoils he can amass from the public coffers.— Paul Beckett
especially
: boastful often in disregard of the truth
self-aggrandizing remarks … the skill of talking about yourself in a natural way without coming off as a self-aggrandizing braggart. — Jim Murray … whose dishonest, self-aggrandizing memoirs adroitly snookered the public … — Frank Rich We hear of the self-aggrandizing fantasies which he told his sisters, as tales to amuse them. — Robert Penn Warren … was publicly suspended with no pay for six months after it emerged that he repeatedly told a self-aggrandizing, false story about being aboard a military helicopter hit by an RPG over Iraq. — Kieran Corcoran and Christopher Brennan
Test Your Vocabulary
Great Words for Scrabble
-
- Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
A daily challenge for crossword fanatics.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share self-aggrandizing
Time Traveler for self-aggrandizing
The first known use of self-aggrandizing was in 1820
See more words from the same year