hubris
Americannoun
noun
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pride or arrogance
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(in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hubris
First recorded in 1880–85, hubris is from the Greek word hýbris insolence
Explanation
Hubris is an excess of confidence: a boxer who shouts "I'm the greatest!" even though he's about to get pummeled by a much stronger opponent is displaying a lot of hubris. Hubris is from Greek, where it meant "excessive pride, violating the bounds set for humans" and was always punished by the gods. We no longer have the Greek gods, so in English it just refers to over-the-top self-confidence. If you call yourself the best in something, you better have the goods to back it up, since too much hubris can lead to embarrassment and humiliation. It's an age-old human failing: pride goeth before the fall.
Vocabulary lists containing hubris
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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Into the Wild
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That era concluded quickly, undone by his hubris and deceit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
He certainly had been guilty of hubris, concluded Jackson, the historian.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
But when it comes to something you started through a combination of your own hubris, miscalculation and ineptitude, the challenge is especially daunting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
When we encounter a story as ancient as Odysseus’s, we directly encounter the hubris — a favorite sin among the ancient Greeks — of believing that our concerns, categories and even identities are timeless.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
They exhausted their resource base, began to die of starvation and thirst, and fled their cities en masse, leaving them as silent warnings of the perils of ecological hubris.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
