Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To increase the scope of; extend.
- transitive verb To make greater in power, influence, stature, or reputation.
- transitive verb To consider to be or cause to appear greater than is really the case; exaggerate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor; exalt: as, to
aggrandize a family. - To magnify or exaggerate.
- To widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend; elevate.
- Synonyms To honor, dignify, advance, elevate, give luster to.
- To grow or become greater.
- Also spelled
aggrandise .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To increase or become great.
- transitive verb To make great; to enlarge; to increase.
- transitive verb To make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth; -- applied to persons, countries, etc.
- transitive verb To make appear great or greater; to exalt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make great; to
enlarge ; toincrease ; as, - verb transitive To make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth; applied to persons, countries, etc.
- verb transitive To make appear great or greater; to
exalt . - verb intransitive To increase or become great.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb add details to
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Re: Frederic Wakeman's review of China Men [NYR, August 14]: I did not write the myths to "aggrandize" my family and other Chinese Americans by connecting us to the high culture of China.
China Myths Kingston, Maxine Hong 1980
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
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But using the authority of "God" to justify unjust acts and to aggrandize personal power has lead to today's state, where the very word "God" has become a subject of debate, rather than a transcendent authority for good.
Ralph Singh: Interfaith Storytelling For A More Perfect Union Ralph Singh 2011
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But not only does he disaggregate the issue, he, along with others failed to aggrandize the issue.
Bill Clinton weighs in on charges of racism against Obama 2009
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
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Ill-fare malefits do not 'benefit the poor' at the expense of the rich; they aggrandize the power-seeker at the expense of those who value freedom-from-aggression.
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
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Much easier for two elites to unite on their true common ground: aggrandize their own money and power, and the populations they rule take the hindmost.
Ian Fletcher: Appeasers or Cold Warriors: Must America Confront China? Ian Fletcher 2011
oroboros commented on the word aggrandize
aggRAndiZE. Build up vs. tear down.
August 23, 2008
alisonrobin commented on the word aggrandize
I first heard this word in what has become my favorite song. It's the only time I've had to turn to a dictionary to look up something from song lyrics!
November 26, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word aggrandize
Now you *must* tell us which song...
November 26, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word aggrandize
Etymologically or morphologically unusual: it contains an '-ize' suffix (and is usually so spelt), but not the '-ize' suffix. It is in fact the French suffix found in 'advertise' and possibly 'chastise'.
November 26, 2008