plume oneself

Idioms  

1. Congratulate oneself, boast, as in He plumed himself on his victory. This idiom transfers the bird's habit of dressing its feathers to human self-satisfaction. [First half of 1600s]

---

Example Sentences

That one ought not to plume oneself on the merits which belong to another, but ought rather to pass his life in his own proper guise, Æsop has given us this illustration:— A Jackdaw, swellingI.4 with empty pride, picked up some feathers which had fallen from a Peacock, and decked himself out therewith; upon which, despising his own kind, he mingled with a beauteous flock of Peacocks.

From Project Gutenberg

It was impossible not to plume oneself a little on the whole, but the feeling was a superficial one, with deeper and uneasier feelings underneath.

From Project Gutenberg

To plume oneself comes nearest to it; but the word cannot be given, even by equivalents, in English; nor can it be naturalised, because, in fact, we have not the feeling.

From Project Gutenberg