overweening

1 having too high an opinion of oneself a director who has little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism Synonyms assured, biggety (or biggity) [Southern & Midland], bigheaded, complacent, consequential, egoistic (also egoistical), egotistic (or egotistical), important, conceited, pompous, prideful, proud, self-conceited, self-important, self-opinionated, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up, swellheaded, vain, vaingloriousRelated Words blusterous, blustery, boastful, bombastic, braggart, bragging, braggy, cocky, swaggering; arrogant, assumptive, bumptious, cavalier, chesty, disdainful, fastuous, haughty, high-and-mighty, high-hat, huffy, lofty, lordly, masterful, peremptory, pontifical, self-asserting, self-assertive, snobbish, snobby, snooty, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity; domineering, high-handed, imperious; highfalutin (also hifalutin), holier-than-thou, pretentious; overconfident, presuming, presumptuous; confident, self-assured, self-confident; self-adulatory, self-congratulatory, self-contented, self-gratulatory; self-applauding, self-dramatizing, self-glorifying, self-promoting; self-affected, self-centered, self-engrossed, selfish; condescending, patronizingNear Antonyms diffident, self-critical, self-distrustful, self-doubting, self-reproachful, self-reproving; meek, timid, unassertive; down-to-earth, unarrogant, unassuming, unpretentious; bashful, demure, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, retiring, sheepish, shrinking, shyAntonyms egoless, humble, modest, uncomplacent

2 going beyond a normal or acceptable limit in degree or amount overweening desire for wealth and fame Synonyms baroque, devilish, exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fancy, immoderate, inordinate, insane, intolerable, lavish, overdue, overextravagant, overmuch, excessive, plethoric, steep, stiff, towering, unconscionable, undue, unmercifulRelated Words boundless, endless, immeasurable, infinite, limitless; unbearable, unjustifiable, unwarranted; improper, inappropriate, thick, unseemly; unrestrainedNear Antonyms deficient, inadequate, insufficient; minimal, minimumAntonyms middling, moderate, modest, reasonable, temperate

3 having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude an overweening administrator who simply doesn't know how to manage people Synonyms assumptive, bumptious, cavalier, chesty, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, huffish, huffy, imperious, important, lofty, lordly, masterful, arrogant, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, sniffy, stiff-necked, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppityRelated Words authoritarian, bossy, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, pontifical, pontificating; condescending, disdainful, patronizing; impertinent, impudent, saucy; snobbish, snobby, snooty; blusterous, blustery, boastful, bombastic, braggart, bragging, braggy, cocky, swaggering, vain, vainglorious; complacent, conceited, egocentric, egoistic (also egoistical), egotistic (or egotistical), hubristic, narcissistic, orgulous, prideful, proud, self-affected, self-applauding, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up; self-flattering, self-loving, self-promoting; brash, forward, uninhibited, unreserved; extroverted (also extraverted), immodestNear Antonyms bashful, cowering, cringing, demure, diffident, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, self-critical, self-doubting, sheepish, shrinking, shy, subdued, timid; acquiescent, compliant, deferential, meek, passive, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, unassuming, unobtrusive, yielding; quiet, reserved, retiringAntonyms humble, lowly, modest, unarrogant, unpretentious

4 extended beyond normal or realistic bounds an overweening national pride that prompted its citizens to denigrate other countries Synonyms exaggerated, hyperbolized, inflated, outsize (also outsized), overblown, overdrawn, bloatedRelated Words elaborated, embellished, embroidered, enlarged, hyped-up, magnified, overdone, overemphasized, overplayed, overstated, padded, stretched; grandiose, preposterous, unreal, unrealistic, unreasonableNear Antonyms realistic, reasonable