aggrandize

[ uh-gran-dahyz, ag-ruhn-dahyz ]
See synonyms for: aggrandizeaggrandizedaggrandizement on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ag·gran·dized, ag·gran·diz·ing.
  1. to widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend.

  2. to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor.

  1. to make (something) appear greater.

Origin of aggrandize

1
1625–35; <French aggrandiss- (long stem of aggrandir to magnify), equivalent to ag-ag- + grand (see grand) + -iss-ish2, irregular equated with -ize
  • Also especially British, ag·gran·dise .

Other words for aggrandize

Opposites for aggrandize

Other words from aggrandize

  • ag·gran·dize·ment [uh-gran-diz-muhnt], /əˈgræn dɪz mənt/, noun
  • ag·gran·diz·er [uh-gran-dahy-zer, ag-ruhndahy-], /əˈgræn daɪ zər, ˈægˌrəndaɪ-/, noun

Words Nearby aggrandize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use aggrandize in a sentence

  • They only cared to aggrandize themselves, without thought of national feeling or geographical conditions.

  • His ambition was not to secure for himself ease or luxury, but to extend his imperial power, and to aggrandize his family.

  • The Master proceeded to show that a man who speaks on his own authority alone seeks to aggrandize himself.

    Jesus the Christ | James Edward Talmage
  • It resisted, in the lower classes, the attempt of the church to suppress it in order to aggrandize the corporation.

    Folkways | William Graham Sumner
  • She did not try to aggrandize herself at their expense, nor did she take up weapons against them.

    Serbia: A Sketch | Helen Leah Reed

British Dictionary definitions for aggrandize

aggrandize

aggrandise

/ (ˈæɡrənˌdaɪz, əˈɡrænˌdaɪz) /


verb(tr)
  1. to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc, of

  2. to cause (something) to seem greater; magnify; exaggerate

Origin of aggrandize

1
C17: from Old French aggrandiss-, long stem of aggrandir to make bigger, from Latin grandis grand; the ending -ize is due to the influence of verbs ending in -ise, -ize

Derived forms of aggrandize

  • aggrandizement or aggrandisement (əˈɡrændɪzmənt), noun
  • aggrandizer or aggrandiser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012