aggrandize
verb
transitive verb
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Aggrandize has enhanced the English vocabulary since the early 17th century. English speakers adapted agrandiss-, the stem of the French verb agrandir, to form aggrandize, and later used the French form agrandissement as the basis of the noun aggrandizement. (The root of agrandiss- is Latin; it comes from grandis, meaning "large, great.") Nowadays, both noun and verb are regularly paired (somewhat disparagingly) with the prefix self- to refer to individuals bent on glorifying themselves, as sports writer Alan Shipnuck demonstrates in a 2015 Sports Illustrated article, writing "golf is not a sport that smiles upon the self-aggrandizing."
Synonyms
- canonize
- deify
- dignify
- elevate
- ennoble
- enshrine
- ensky
- enthrone
- exalt
- glorify
- magnify
Example Sentences
Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, 25 Apr. 2022 America’s public discourse seems to consist of a never-ending series of brief monologues, typed out on social media and intended to wound others and aggrandize the self. Jory Fleming, WSJ, 17 June 2021 The tax mandate is an egregious affront to federalism that would aggrandize Washington and erode interstate economic-policy competition. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 16 May 2021 Soon Parveen discovers that Crane’s book is a self-aggrandizing fabric of lies. Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2019 The second outing with self-aggrandizing stalker (and murderer) Joe is just as addictive as the first, if a little repetitive. Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 4 Dec. 2019 What had happened to this diminutive scholar from Baghdad, in Iraq's dusty plains and dense alleyways, to leave him capable of such a self-aggrandizing pronouncement and the sickening violence that went with it? Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 27 Oct. 2019 Eventually, in Beran’s aggrandizing telling, 4chan’s crescendo of furious nihilism delivers President Trump to America. Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, 31 July 2019 There’s Eastern European folk music, soft shoe numbers, self-aggrandizing hip-hop, guitar rock and more. Dominic P. Papatola, Twin Cities, 15 Sep. 2019 See More Word History
borrowed (with assimilation of the ending to -ize) from French agrandiss-, stem of agrandir, going back to Old French, from a-, verb-forming prefix (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + -grandir, verbal derivative of grand "large, great," going back to Latin grandis "fully grown, large, great" — more at grand entry 1
1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1
aggrandizes
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- elevates
- dignifies
- promotes
- deifies
- ennobles
- exalts
- enthrones
- magnifies
- enshrines
- canonizes
- lifts
- glorifies
- honors
- boosts
- uplifts
- praises
- heightens
- idealizes
- raises
- upgrades
- intensifies
- romanticizes
- enskies
- extols
- sanitizes
- lauds
- acclaims
- sugarcoats
- extolls
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- demeans
- humiliates
- minimizes
- humbles
- detracts
- disparages
- abases
- decries
- belittles
- degrades
- depreciates
Synonyms & Similar Words
- increases
- augments
- accelerates
- expands
- boosts
- enhances
- amplifies
- multiplies
- extends
- raises
- reinforces
- maximizes
- swells
- enlarges
- stokes
- intensifies
- hypes
- strengthens
- escalates
- supersizes
- compounds
- builds up
- ups
- inflates
- pumps up
- distends
- heightens
- magnifies
- adds (to)
- lengthens
- skyrockets
- dilates
- prolongs
- complements
- elongates
- develops
- supplements
- jumps
- spikes
- stretches
- protracts
- blows up
- booms
- draws out
- accumulates
- reenforces
- ratchets (up)
- bumps (up)
- amasses
- follows up
- collects
- rachets (up)
- parlays
- fleshes (out)
- beefs (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- diminishes
- reduces
- decreases
- lessens
- downsizes
- lowers
- dwindles
- shortens
- subtracts (from)
- abates
- abridges
- curtails
- abbreviates
- minifies
- de-escalates
- compresses
- constricts
- condenses
- contracts
- retrenches
- cuts back