pride definition | Dictionary.com

pride

[prahyd]

noun, verb, prid⋅ed, prid⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.

2.	the state or feeling of being proud.

3.	a becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one's position or character; self-respect; self-esteem.

4.	pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself: civic pride.

5.	something that causes a person or persons to be proud: His art collection was the pride of the family.

6.	the best of a group, class, society, etc.: This bull is the pride of the herd.

7.	the most flourishing state or period: in the pride of adulthood.

8.	mettle in a horse.

9.	Literary. splendor, magnificence, or pomp.

10.	a group of lions.

11.	sexual desire, esp. in a female animal.

12.	ornament or adornment.

–verb (used with object)

13.	to indulge or plume (oneself) in a feeling of pride (usually fol. by on or upon): She prides herself on her tennis.

—Idiom

14.	pride and joy, someone or something cherished, valued, or enjoyed above all others: Their new grandchild is their pride and joy.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME (n.); OE prȳde (c. ON prȳthi bravery, pomp), deriv. of prūd proud

Related forms:

prideful, adjective

pride⋅ful⋅ly, adverb

pride⋅ful⋅ness, noun

prideless, adjective

pride⋅less⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. Pride, conceit, self-esteem, egotism, vanity, vainglory imply an unduly favorable idea of one's own appearance, advantages, achievements, etc., and often apply to offensive characteristics. Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: Pride must have a fall. Conceit implies an exaggerated estimate of one's own abilities or attainments, together with pride: blinded by conceit. Self-esteem may imply an estimate of oneself that is higher than that held by others: a ridiculous self-esteem. Egotism implies an excessive preoccupation with oneself or with one's own concerns, usually but not always accompanied by pride or conceit: His egotism blinded him to others' difficulties. Vanity implies self-admiration and an excessive desire to be admired by others: His vanity was easily flattered. Vainglory, somewhat literary, implies an inordinate and therefore empty or unjustified pride: puffed up by vainglory. 5. boast.

Antonyms:
1. humility.

Pride

[prahyd]

–noun

Thomas, died 1658, English soldier and regicide.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pride (prīd)

A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.
Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association: parental pride.
Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness.
1. A cause or source of pleasure or satisfaction; the best of a group or class: These soldiers were their country's pride.
2. The most successful or thriving condition; prime: the pride of youth.
An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit.
Mettle or spirit in horses.
A company of lions. See Synonyms at flock¹.
A flamboyant or impressive group: a pride of acrobats.

tr.v. prid·ed, prid·ing, prides
To indulge (oneself) in a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction: I pride myself on this beautiful garden.

[Middle English, from Old English prȳde, from prūd, proud; see proud.]

Pride (prīd)

English Parliamentarian who led a regiment to Parliament and expelled Presbyterian and Royalist members who opposed the condemnation of Charles I (1648). He was a signatory of Charles's death warrant.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Pride

Pride\, n. [Cf. AS. lamprede, LL. lampreda, E. lamprey.] (Zo["o]l.) A small European lamprey (Petromyzon branchialis); -- called also prid, and sandpiper.

Pride

Pride\, n. [AS. pr[=y]te; akin to Icel. pr[=y][eth]i honor, ornament, pr??a to adorn, Dan. pryde, Sw. pryda; cf. W. prydus comely. See Proud.]

1. The quality or state of being proud; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, rank, etc., which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.

Those that walk in pride he is able to abase. --Dan. iv. 37.

Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt. --Franklin.

2. A sense of one's own worth, and abhorrence of what is beneath or unworthy of one; lofty self-respect; noble self-esteem; elevation of character; dignified bearing; proud delight; -- in a good sense.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride. --Goldsmith.

A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants. --Macaulay.

3. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct; insolent exultation; disdain.

Let not the foot of pride come against me. --Ps. xxxvi. 11.

That hardly we escaped the pride of France. --Shak.

4. That of which one is proud; that which excites boasting or self-gratulation; the occasion or ground of self-esteem, or of arrogant and presumptuous confidence, as beauty, ornament, noble character, children, etc.

Lofty trees yclad with summer's pride. --Spenser.

I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. --Zech. ix. 6.

A bold peasantry, their country's pride. --Goldsmith.

5. Show; ostentation; glory.

Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war. --Shak.

6. Highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory; as, to be in the pride of one's life.

A falcon, towering in her pride of place. --Shak.

7. Consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness; hence, lust; sexual desire; esp., an excitement of sexual appetite in a female beast. [Obs.]

Pride of India, or Pride of China. (Bot.) See Margosa.

Pride of the desert (Zo["o]l.), the camel.

Syn: Self-exaltation; conceit; hauteur; haughtiness; lordliness; loftiness.

Usage: Pride, Vanity. Pride is a high or an excessive esteem of one's self for some real or imagined superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc. Vanity is the love of being admired, praised, exalted, etc., by others. Vanity is an ostentation of pride; but one may have great pride without displaying it. Vanity, which is etymologically "emptiness," is applied especially to the exhibition of pride in superficialities, as beauty, dress, wealth, etc.

Pride

Pride\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prided; p. pr. & vb. n. Priding.] To indulge in pride, or self-esteem; to rate highly; to plume; -- used reflexively. --Bp. Hall.

Pluming and priding himself in all his services. --South.

Pride

Pride\, v. i. To be proud; to glory. [R.]

Language Translation for : pride

Spanish: orgullo,

German: der Stolz,

Japanese: 誇り

More Translations »

pride

O.E. pryto, from prud (see proud). First applied to groups of lions 1486, but not commonly so used until c.1930. The verb in the reflexive sense "congratulate oneself" is recorded from 1275.

pride

In addition to the idioms beginning with pride, also see burst with (pride); swallow one's pride.

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