aggrandize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc, of
-
to cause (something) to seem greater; magnify; exaggerate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of aggrandize
1625–35; < French aggrandiss- (long stem of aggrandir to magnify), equivalent to ag- ag- + grand ( see grand) + -iss -ish 2, irregular equated with -ize ( def. )
Explanation
If you are a window washer, but you refer to yourself as a "vista enhancement specialist," then you are aggrandizing your job title — that is, making it sound greater than it is. The verb aggrandize not only means "to make appear greater"; it can also be used to mean simply "to make greater." If you buy an estate and sink millions of dollars into its improvement, then you are actually aggrandizing the estate. If you are making yourself seem greater, then people may say you are "self-aggrandizing."
Vocabulary lists containing aggrandize
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Face It: Selfie Vocab
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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.
“Experience shows that it is not wise to trust human cupidity where it has the opportunity to aggrandize itself at the expense of others,” they wrote.
From Barron's • May 2, 2026
Yet there are none of the trappings of schools that aggrandize the M.B.A. aspirant as a master of the universe in waiting: grand atriums, leather-chaired lounges, chandelier-festooned ceilings.
From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2023
“There was never looking for credit, never looking to aggrandize himself,” Rendell told AP.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022
Furthermore, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court refused to allow the lower court to aggrandize itself by apportioning, like a legislature, the $465 million to particular uses.
From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2021
The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the Pope.
From The Faith of Our Fathers by Gibbons, James
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.
