aggrandize

American  

[uh-gran-dahyz, ag-ruhn-dahyz] / əˈgræn daɪz, ˈæg rənˌdaɪz /

especially British, aggrandise

verb (used with object)

aggrandized, aggrandizing

1. to widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend.

   Antonyms:

   reduce

2. to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor.

   Synonyms:

   exalt, strengthen, inflate

   Antonyms:

   diminish

3. to make (something) appear greater.

   Synonyms:

   magnify

   Antonyms:

   minimize

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aggrandize British  

/ ˈæɡrənˌdaɪz, əˈɡrænˌdaɪz, əˈɡrændɪzmənt /

verb

1. to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc, of

2. to cause (something) to seem greater; magnify; exaggerate

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Other Word Forms

• aggrandizement
  noun
• aggrandizer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of aggrandize

1625–35; < French aggrandiss- (long stem of aggrandir to magnify), equivalent to ag- ag- + grand ( see grand) + -iss -ish ², irregular equated with -ize ( def. )

Explanation

If you are a window washer, but you refer to yourself as a "vista enhancement specialist," then you are aggrandizing your job title — that is, making it sound greater than it is. The verb aggrandize not only means "to make appear greater"; it can also be used to mean simply "to make greater." If you buy an estate and sink millions of dollars into its improvement, then you are actually aggrandizing the estate. If you are making yourself seem greater, then people may say you are "self-aggrandizing."

Example Sentences

“Experience shows that it is not wise to trust human cupidity where it has the opportunity to aggrandize itself at the expense of others,” they wrote.

From Barron's • May 2, 2026

“There was never looking for credit, never looking to aggrandize himself,” Rendell told AP.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022

It feels odd to talk about, because I don’t want to aggrandize myself.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2019

All that emphasis on Powhatan as the only native leader of significance — that’s because he was the most familiar to the settlers, who tended to aggrandize their own experience, King said.

From Washington Post • Nov. 21, 2018

Sheridan and other theorists capitalized upon a number of intellectual currents and social pressures of the era that centered attention upon delivery in speaking and that helped aggrandize this facet of rhetorical training.

From A Discourse Being Introductory to his Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language (1759) by Sheridan, Thomas