hubris
Americannoun
noun
-
pride or arrogance
-
(in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin
Other Word Forms
- hubristic adjective
- nonhubristic adjective
- unhubristic adjective
Etymology
Origin of hubris
First recorded in 1880–85, hubris is from the Greek word hýbris insolence
Explanation
Hubris is an excess of confidence: a boxer who shouts "I'm the greatest!" even though he's about to get pummeled by a much stronger opponent is displaying a lot of hubris. Hubris is from Greek, where it meant "excessive pride, violating the bounds set for humans" and was always punished by the gods. We no longer have the Greek gods, so in English it just refers to over-the-top self-confidence. If you call yourself the best in something, you better have the goods to back it up, since too much hubris can lead to embarrassment and humiliation. It's an age-old human failing: pride goeth before the fall.
Vocabulary lists containing hubris
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Into the Wild
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Moreover, for Aristotle, hubris is not an offense against the gods but is characterized by acts that dishonor other persons.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Some of those are even remembered as the leaders who brought down great empires with their own hubris and egotism.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
For some, the rise and fall of Brewdog has been a cautionary tale of unchecked ambition, rapid expansion and hubris.
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026
An artist couldn’t have dreamed up a better monument to the hubris of overheated development in a city where so many remain unhoused.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026
They exhausted their resource base, began to die of starvation and thirst, and fled their cities en masse, leaving them as silent warnings of the perils of ecological hubris.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
