bovarism

[ boh-vuh-riz-uhm ]

noun

1. an exaggerated, especially glamorized, estimate of oneself; conceit.

Other Words From

• bova·rist noun
• bova·ristic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bovarism¹

First recorded in 1900–05; from French bovaryisme, after Emma Bovary, a character in Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary (1857); -ism

Example Sentences

There is, however, this difference in the Bovarism of Nature's most exquisite moments.

From Project Gutenberg