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

She tests everyone’s limits, but her grandiosity is something to see.

From Los Angeles Times

Elordi takes over the telling of his tale, often running counter to the presentational grandiosity that a new “Frankenstein” would seem to require.

From Los Angeles Times

The terms all apply to him: "pattern of grandiosity," "fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance," "lacks empathy," "requires excessive admiration."

From Salon

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

These politicians play to jaded electorates and captive audiences who reward grandiosity and xenophobia because partisanship fills the void left by an absence of genuine national community.

From Salon

Related Words

• grandeur 
• magnificence