aggrandizement means the act of aggrandizing, or the state of being aggrandized or exalted in power, rank, honor, or wealth; exaltation; enlargement. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 77 out of 100.
aggrandizement is pronounced /əˈɡrændɪzmənt/.
Why “aggrandizement” is a great word
AGGRANDIZEMENT — [Noun] The act of making something greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth, often with connotations of self-serving inflation or unwarranted enlargement. From French agrandissement, from agrandir ("to enlarge"), itself from a- (ad-, "to") + grandir ("to grow, make great"), from Latin grandis ("great, large"). First attested in English c. 1650s. Unlike "enhancement," which focuses on improving quality, or "humility," its direct moral opposite, aggrandizement is the conscious inflation of scale and stature. It is the bureaucrat redrawing a map to absorb a neighboring province, the gilt frame expanding to dominate the wall, and the relentless burnishing of an anecdote until one's own role gleams at its center. We build monuments not to truths, but to the vastness we wish to occupy.
noun
- The act of aggrandizing, or the state of being aggrandized or exalted in power, rank, honor, or wealth; exaltation; enlargement.“The emperor seeks only the aggrandizement of his own family.”