aggrandize

American  

[uh-gran-dahyz, ag-ruhn-dahyz] / əˈgræn daɪz, ˈæg rənˌdaɪz /

especially British, aggrandise

verb (used with object)

aggrandized, aggrandizing

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

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aggrandize British  

/ ˈæɡrənˌdaɪz, əˈɡrænˌdaɪz, əˈɡrændɪzmənt /

verb

1. to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc, of

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

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Other Word Forms

• aggrandizement noun
• aggrandizer noun

Etymology

Origin of aggrandize

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

Example Sentences

“There was never looking for credit, never looking to aggrandize himself,” Rendell told AP.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022

It feels odd to talk about, because I don’t want to aggrandize myself.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2019

I do not aggrandize what I have or what I am.

From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2018

Her disgruntled co-writer, Lisa DePaulo, also filed a breach of contract suit, claiming therein that she’d been instructed to aggrandize Pirro’s “role in the story at the expense of the truth.”

From Slate • Dec. 15, 2017

And has not a profound observer of human affairs declared, Ex privatis odiis respublica crescit? individual hatreds aggrandize the republic.

From Calamities and Quarrels of Authors by Disraeli, Isaac