Dictionary

aggrandize en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (UK) audio
• /əˈɡɹændaɪ̯z/

Etymology

Etymology tree French a- Proto-Italic *grandis Latin grandis Old French grant Middle French grand French grand Proto-Italic *-jezi ▲ Latin -ereinflu. Latin -īre French -ir French agrandirbor. English ag- English grand Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English aggrandize From French agrandir. By surface analysis, ag- + grand + -ize.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make great; to enlarge; to increase.
   • [They] doe adde vnto the bitternesse of that Day, and agrandise the heauie weight of trouble. 1624, Richard Montagu, Immediate Addresse vnto God Alone, London: Matthew Lownes and William Barret, page 19:
   • […] on so small a scale, it would be impossible to give an adequate idea of a grand scene. […] Were it painted indeed with exactness on a pane of glass in a window, and the eye brought to it, under the deception of it’s being a real view; the imagination might aggrandize it. 1789, William Gilpin, “Account of the Prints”, in Observations, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the year 1776, on several parts of Great Britain; particularly the High-lands of Scotland, volume 2, London: R. Blamire, page ii:
   • In Heroic Verſe, but eſpecially in the grander Lyrics, there are ſometimes ſuch noble Elevations of Thought and Paſſion as illuminate all Things around us, and convey to the Soul moſt exalted and magnificent Images and ſublime Sentiments: Theſe furniſh us with glorious Springs and Mediums to raiſe and aggrandize our Conceptions, […] 1741, I[saac] Watts, “Of the Sciences, and their Use in particular Professions”, in The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC, paragraph XXXVI, page 355:
   • to aggrandize one's authority, distress
   • […] the relations of ideas to power may assume infinite variations. The tendency may be to aggrandize power at all cost, to aggrandize power but to calculate soberly the risks involved, to conserve existing power, or even to yield power. 1970, Benjamin I. Schwartz, Communism in China: Ideology in Flux, New York: Atheneum, page 10:
2. (transitive) To make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth (applied to persons, countries, etc.).
   • […] under pretence of ſecuring the purity of religion, he had laid a ſcheme of aggrandizing his own family, by extending its dominions over all Germany. 1759, David Hume, “[Henry VIII.] Chapter IV.”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 165:
   • […] the aggrandizing of your estate by well managed fortune […] may well set out your praises to the world […] 1635, David Person, “To the Right Honovrable Thomas Earle of Hadington”, in Varieties, London: Thomas Alchorn:
   • […] he seems never to have revived his schemes for aggrandizing his son by securing to him the succession to the empire. 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Early Days of Philip”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 69:
   • He only wanted to aggrandize and enrich himself; and if Miss Woodhouse of Hartfield, the heiress of thirty thousand pounds, were not quite so easily obtained as he had fancied, he would soon try for Miss Somebody else with twenty, or with ten. 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 289:
3. (formal, transitive) To make appear great or greater; to exalt.
   • The first thing to aggrandise a man in his own conceit, is to conceive of himself as neglected. 1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “[Popular Fallacies.] XVI. That a Sulky Temper Is a Misfortune.”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 279:
   • aggrandize one's accomplishments and downplay others'
   • 1881, Mark Twain, “Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims,” address at the first annual dinner, N.E. Society, Philadelphia, 22 December, 1881, in Mark Twain’s Speeches, New York: Harper, 1910, p. 18, Why, to be celebrating the mere landing of the Pilgrims—to be trying to make out that this most natural and simple and customary procedure was an extraordinary circumstance—a circumstance to be amazed at, and admired, aggrandized and glorified, at orgies like this for two hundred and sixty years—hang it, a horse would have known enough to land; a horse […]
   • They noted the use of his [the gunman’s] name is hurtful to the victims’ families and using it could assist anyone who might want to aggrandize his actions. 2015 January 16, Associated Press, “Sandy Hook committee to propose ban on guns that fire more than 10 rounds”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jan 2015:
   • […] they contrive to make all approaches to them difficult and vexatious, and imagine that they aggrandize themſelves by waſting the time of others in uſeleſs attendance, and by mortifying them with ſlights, and teazing them with affronts. 1750 October 9 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. [56]. Friday, September 29. 1750.”, in The Rambler, volume III, Edinburgh: [[…] Sands, Murray, and Cochran]; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 28:
4. (intransitive, rare) To increase or become great.
   • 1946, Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume 2, Washington: United States Government Printing Office, p. 317, The generals, like Hitler, wanted Germany to aggrandize at the expense of neighboring countries, and to do so if necessary by force or threat of force.

Forms

Antonyms

demean

Deriveds

aggrandizer · overaggrandize · self-aggrandizing · aggrandization · unaggrandized · aggrandizement · self-aggrandizement · unaggrandizing · aggrandizable · self-aggrandize

Hypernyms

empower · increase · upgrade · ameliorate

Hyponyms

lord · belord · beknight · knight · invest

Relateds

ingrandize · engrandize

Synonyms

elevate · panegyrize · promote · praise · dignify · appraise · exalt · idolize · magnify · speak well of · worthy · puff · laud · aggrandize · belaud · exalt · cry up · laud · elevate · swell · raise · greaten · extol · enlarge · embiggen · nobilitate · transfigure · praise · glorify · aggrandize · venerate · honor · expand · advance · revere · eulogize · ennoble · ennoble · honor · prefer · extol · grow · bepraise · empower · lionize · applaud · enthrone · uplift · commend

Translations (8)

es engrandecer (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · yue 擴大 /扩大 (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · pt engrandecer (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · kk арттыру (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · es encumbrar (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · es enaltecer (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · es ennoblecer (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth) · es ensalzar (make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth)