Word of the Day

: August 28, 2021

hubris

noun HYOO-bris

What It Means

Hubris means "exaggerated pride or confidence."

// His failure was brought on by his hubris.

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hubris in Context

"Bezos, who softly needled Branson's trip as being a bit too low in altitude to really be called space, scheduled his flight for Tuesday, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. That is hubris of the least subtle kind." — Mitch Albom, The News Herald (Panama City, Florida), 26 July 2021

Did You Know?

English picked up both the concept of hubris and the term for that particular brand of cockiness from the ancient Greeks, who considered hubris a dangerous character flaw capable of provoking the wrath of the gods. In classical Greek tragedy, hubris was often a fatal shortcoming that brought about the fall of the tragic hero. Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status, and the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of their mortality.