aggrandize

== English == === Alternative forms === aggrandise (mainly British) === Etymology === From French agrandir. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /əˈɡɹændaɪ̯z/ === Verb === aggrandize (third-person singular simple present aggrandizes, present participle aggrandizing, simple past and past participle aggrandized) (transitive) To make great; to enlarge; to increase. Synonyms: embiggen, greaten, grow to aggrandize one's authority, distress (transitive) To make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth (applied to persons, countries, etc.). Synonyms: elevate, empower, ennoble; see also Thesaurus:aggrandize (transitive) To make appear great or greater; to exalt. Synonyms: extol, laud, praise; see also Thesaurus:glorify 1881, Mark Twain, “Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims,” address at the first annual dinner, N.E. Society, Philadelphia, 22 December, 1881, in Mark Twain’s Speeches, New York: Harper, 1910, p. 18,[5] Why, to be celebrating the mere landing of the Pilgrims—to be trying to make out that this most natural and simple and customary procedure was an extraordinary circumstance—a circumstance to be amazed at, and admired, aggrandized and glorified, at orgies like this for two hundred and sixty years—hang it, a horse would have known enough to land; a horse […] (intransitive, rare) To increase or become great. Synonyms: enlarge, expand, swell 1946, Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume 2, Washington: United States Government Printing Office, p. 317,[7] The generals, like Hitler, wanted Germany to aggrandize at the expense of neighboring countries, and to do so if necessary by force or threat of force. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ====