aggrandize

[ uh-gran-dahyz, ag-ruhn-dahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, ag·gran·dized, ag·gran·diz·ing.

1. to widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend.

   Antonyms: reduce

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

   Synonyms: exalt, strengthen, inflate

   Antonyms: diminish

3. to make (something) appear greater.

   Synonyms: magnify

   Antonyms: minimize

aggrandize

/ ˈæɡrənˌdaɪz; əˈɡrænˌdaɪz; əˈɡrændɪzmənt /

verb

1. to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc, of
2. to cause (something) to seem greater; magnify; exaggerate

Derived Forms

• aggrandizement, noun
• ˈaggranˌdizer, noun

Other Words From

• ag·gran·dize·ment [uh, -, gran, -diz-m, uh, nt], noun
• ag·gran·diz·er [uh, -, gran, -dahy-zer, ag, -r, uh, ndahy-], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggrandize¹

1625–35; < French aggrandiss- (long stem of aggrandir to magnify), equivalent to ag- ag- + grand ( grand ) + -iss -ish ², irregular equated with -ize ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggrandize¹

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

Example Sentences

Every subculture has its die-hard enthusiast early adopters and communities that are all about the conferences and the parties—and it may seem self-aggrandizing or silly to outsiders at first.

From Time

The Global Times, too, was quick to criticize Tsai’s “self-aggrandizing attitude,” while highlighting that it was not her government that completed the vaccine deal.

From Time

I spent much of the pandemic watching, in real time, the necessary dissolution of the nation’s self-aggrandizing and innocent sense of its history and purpose.

From Washington Post

Still, some emperors were particularly adept at crafting a narrative … that is, until Nero took the self-aggrandizing a tad too far.

From Ozy

Proponents of peace must overcome the tendency to self-destructively aggrandize the settlements.

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

It resisted, in the lower classes, the attempt of the church to suppress it in order to aggrandize the corporation.

From Project Gutenberg

She did not try to aggrandize herself at their expense, nor did she take up weapons against them.

From Project Gutenberg