- Today's Word
Vainglorious
[veyn-GLOR-ee-us]
Definition
- (noun) Someone who is excessively proud of their own achievements, abilities, or appearance. It refers to a person who is boastful and overly confident, often in a way that is irritating or offensive to others.
Example
The vainglorious CEO couldn’t stop talking about his company’s success, attributing every accomplishment to his own brilliance while ignoring the hard work of his team.
Fun Fact
The word “vainglorious” combines “vain,” meaning excessively proud of one’s appearance or achievements, and “glorious,” meaning deserving great admiration or praise. It has been in use since the 15th century, originating from the Latin “vana gloria” meaning “empty glory.” In medieval Christian theology, vainglory was considered one of the seven deadly sins, specifically a form of pride. Today, it’s often used to describe people who have an inflated sense of their own importance or accomplishments.
(verb) To criticize someone or something severely and publicly, often with harsh or scathing language.
The columnist excoriated the company’s leadership for ignoring repeated safety warnings.
Excoriate comes from the Latin excoriare, meaning “to strip off the skin,” from ex- (“off”) and corium (“hide” or “skin”). While the word originally described physical abrasion, its meaning shifted metaphorically over time to describe verbal attacks so harsh they feel skin-deep, leaving nothing protected.