grandiosity

[ gran-dee-os-i-tee ]

noun

1. the quality of seeming impressive or important in an artificial or deliberately pompous way; pretentiousness:

   These are mere bogus revolutionaries, high on the sound of their own voices and the silly grandiosity of their claims.

2. the quality of actually being imposing or impressive:

   Through the photographer's eyes these sprawling, well-known cities become worlds of extreme beauty, elegance, and grandiosity.

3. the quality of being more complicated or elaborate than necessary:

   Hockey’s a great sport: gentlemanly and understated, with no fuss or grandiosity.

4. Psychiatry. an exaggerated belief in one’s own importance, sometimes reaching delusional proportions, as a symptom of a mental illness such as manic disorder:

   Paranoiacs tend to carry a bit of guilt with their grandiosity—a sense of some great transgression that has made them a magnet for universal hostility.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandiosity¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French grandiosité, from Italian grandiosità, equivalent to grandiose ( def ) + -ity ( def )

Example Sentences

When this happens, some individuals resort to delusions of grandiosity to reassert their dignity and sense of self-worth.

From Washington Post

Take delusions of grandiosity one step further and you get delusions of grandeur, one of the most widespread forms of delusion.

From Washington Post

Like others do now, I once marveled at her audacity, at the way she plays by her own rules, at the grandiosity of her dreams, and at her ridiculous, outsized confidence.

From Time

While this song’s subject seems to adhere to that kind of grandiosity, Taylor offers a much more mundane love language that can nevertheless be just as powerful—of sitting around with someone, doing nothing, and still loving it.

From Time

At a movie theater, sometimes absurdity elevates into ambitious grandiosity.

From The Daily Beast

Although Korra looks at PTSD and assault with supernatural grandiosity, fans were quick to pick up on it in some forums.

From The Daily Beast

The essay itself seems an artifact of a dying tradition, and not just in its grandiosity.

From The Daily Beast

“Grandiosity has never been a problem for Newt Gingrich,” said Santorum.

From The Daily Beast

Newt Gingrich had similar personnel problems, and his grandiosity makes her look humble.

From The Daily Beast

Hollywood people have a curious mixture of grandiosity and insecurity.

From The Daily Beast

I hate throwing away money on mere pomposity and grandiosity and show.

From Project Gutenberg

It was of a grandiosity which appealed to the imagination, but not to the practical judgment of a far-sighted statesman.

From Project Gutenberg

That this grandiosity was unnatural and unreal was proved by the publication of Choses Vues.

From Project Gutenberg

I went again when I graduated high school and was amazed by the richness of detail, the grandiosity and grandeur of it all.

From Project Gutenberg

The grandiosity, to use a mild phrase, of such a measure needs no comment.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grandeur
• magnificence