grandiosity

[ gran-dee-os-i-tee ]

noun

1. the quality of seeming impressive or important in an artificial or deliberately pompous way; pretentiousness:

   These are mere bogus revolutionaries, high on the sound of their own voices and the silly grandiosity of their claims.

2. the quality of actually being imposing or impressive:

   Through the photographer's eyes these sprawling, well-known cities become worlds of extreme beauty, elegance, and grandiosity.

3. the quality of being more complicated or elaborate than necessary:

   Hockey’s a great sport: gentlemanly and understated, with no fuss or grandiosity.

4. Psychiatry. an exaggerated belief in one’s own importance, sometimes reaching delusional proportions, as a symptom of a mental illness such as manic disorder:

   Paranoiacs tend to carry a bit of guilt with their grandiosity—a sense of some great transgression that has made them a magnet for universal hostility.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandiosity¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French grandiosité, from Italian grandiosità, equivalent to grandiose ( def ) + -ity ( def )

Example Sentences

Presented as compelling theater, they brought in-depth insight into our often simplistic attempts to understand the Russian mind, with its complex aspirations, fears and insecurity that can lead to greatness, grandiosity or outright malevolence.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump's grandiosity and need for adoration and attention is as great as his vulnerability which is why he hates and wants to destroy anyone who dares to disagree with him or otherwise opposes him.

From Salon

The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the inevitably ensuing debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq stoked a strange mental syndrome made up of fear and grandiosity.

From Salon

Psychiatry’s diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, outlines nine behavioral patterns involving grandiosity, empathy, and a person’s need for admiration, of which a patient must meet at least five for a formal diagnosis of NPD.

From Slate

Directed by Lance Oppenheim and produced by Benny and Josh Safdie among others, “Ren Faire” depicts and embodies a Möbius strip of truth and grandiosity.

From New York Times

Related Words

• grandeur
• magnificence