grandiosity

American  

[gran-dee-os-i-tee] / ˌgræn diˈɒs ɪ ti /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of grandiosity

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

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Explanation

Grandiosity is a characteristic of being so ambitious or extravagant that you seem pretentious. The grandiosity of that new house down the street, with all of its turrets and columns, is a little ridiculous. Someone's grandiosity might come across in the way they brag about their amazing achievements, blowing them up to be even bigger — or more grand — than they actually are. Or you might betray your grandiosity by making outlandish plans that don't seem quite realistic: "Later, I realized the grandiosity of my idea to start a cookie business that would make a million dollars in the first six months." The Latin root is grandis, "big."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grandiosity

Mr. Armitage’s language is striking for its restraint; he does not traffic in the faux-archaic grandiosity, the inflated diction donning the mask of authenticity, that has helped mar so many earlier attempts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Take the grandiosity of his ascent to the role, in which CBS News put forward a manifesto of the newsroom’s guiding principles.

From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2026

The movie’s square-framed cinematography, too, reminiscent of a staged newsreel, is another subtle touch — one imagines Panh rejecting widescreen as only feeding this evil regime’s view of its own righteous grandiosity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025

He extensively quotes both men's social media posts to "get a full sense of the madness," arguing they're both being consumed by their tendencies "to grandiosity, vindictiveness and paranoia."

From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2025

Such grandiose declarations were commonplace during Ceaujescu’s reign, for his master plan—to create a nation worthy of the New Socialist Man—was an exercise in grandiosity.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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Related Words

• grandeur
• magnificence

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