Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

pride

[prahyd]
See more synonyms for pride on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.
  2. the state or feeling of being proud.
  3. a becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one's position or character; self-respect; self-esteem.
  4. pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself: civic pride.
  5. something that causes a person or persons to be proud: His art collection was the pride of the family.
  6. the best of a group, class, society, etc.: This bull is the pride of the herd.
  7. the most flourishing state or period: in the pride of adulthood.
  8. mettle in a horse.
  9. Literary. splendor, magnificence, or pomp.
  10. a group of lions.
  11. sexual desire, especially in a female animal.
  12. ornament or adornment.
Show More
verb (used with object), prid·ed, prid·ing.
  1. to indulge or plume (oneself) in a feeling of pride (usually followed by on or upon): She prides herself on her tennis.
Show More
Idioms
  1. pride and joy, someone or something cherished, valued, or enjoyed above all others: Their new grandchild is their pride and joy.
Show More

Origin of pride

before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English prȳde (cognate with Old Norse prȳthi bravery, pomp), derivative of prūd proud
Related formspride·ful, adjectivepride·ful·ly, adverbpride·ful·ness, nounpride·less, adjectivepride·less·ly, adverbun·pride·ful, adjectiveun·pride·ful·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for pride on Thesaurus.com
1. Pride, conceit, self-esteem, egotism, vanity, vainglory imply an unduly favorable idea of one's own appearance, advantages, achievements, etc., and often apply to offensive characteristics. Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: Pride must have a fall. Conceit implies an exaggerated estimate of one's own abilities or attainments, together with pride: blinded by conceit. Self-esteem may imply an estimate of oneself that is higher than that held by others: a ridiculous self-esteem. Egotism implies an excessive preoccupation with oneself or with one's own concerns, usually but not always accompanied by pride or conceit: His egotism blinded him to others' difficulties. Vanity implies self-admiration and an excessive desire to be admired by others: His vanity was easily flattered. Vainglory, somewhat literary, implies an inordinate and therefore empty or unjustified pride: puffed up by vainglory. 5. boast.

Antonyms

1. humility.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for pride and joy

Pride

noun
  1. Thomas. died 1658, English soldier on the Parliamentary side during the Civil War. He expelled members of the Long Parliament hostile to the army (Pride's Purge, 1648) and signed Charles I's death warrant
Show More

pride

noun
  1. a feeling of honour and self-respect; a sense of personal worth
  2. excessive self-esteem; conceit
  3. a source of pride
  4. satisfaction or pleasure taken in one's own or another's success, achievements, etc (esp in the phrase take (a) pride in)
  5. the better or most superior part of something; flower
  6. the most flourishing time
  7. a group (of lions)
  8. the mettle of a horse; courage; spirit
  9. archaic sexual desire, esp in a female animal
  10. archaic display, pomp, or splendour
  11. pride of place the most important position
Show More
verb
  1. (tr; foll by on or upon) to take pride in (oneself) for
  2. (intr) to glory or revel (in)
Show More
Derived Formsprideful, adjectivepridefully, adverb

Word Origin

Old English prӯda; related to Latin prodesse to be useful, Old Norse prūthr stately; see proud
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pride and joy

pride

n.

late Old English pryto, Kentish prede, Mercian pride "pride, haughtiness, pomp," from prud (see proud). There is debate whether Scandinavian cognates (Old Norse pryði, Old Swedish prydhe , Danish pryd, etc.) are borrowed from Old French (from Germanic) or from Old English. Meaning "that which makes a person or people most proud" is from c.1300. First applied to groups of lions late 15c., but not commonly so used until c.1930. Paired with prejudice from 1610s.

Show More

pride

v.

mid-12c. in the reflexive sense "congratulate (oneself), be proud," c.1200 as "be arrogant, act haughtily," from pride (n.). Related: Prided; priding.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with pride and joy

pride and joy

The object of one's great pleasure, as in Our new grandson is our pride and joy, or Dana's car is his pride and joy. This term was probably invented by Sir Walter Scott in his poem Rokeby (1813), where he described children as “a mother's pride, a father's joy.”

Show More

pride

In addition to the idioms beginning with pride

  • pride and joy
  • pride of place
  • pride oneself on

also see:

  • burst with (pride)
  • swallow one's pride
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.