Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Characterized by greatness of scope or intent; grand.
  • adjective Characterized by excessive self-importance or affected grandeur; pompous.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Impressive from inherent grandeur; grand in effect; magnificent; imposing.
  • Characterized by self-display or bombast; vulgarly showy or flaunting; grandiloquent; swollen; turgid: as, a grandiose style.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Impressive or elevating in effect; imposing; splendid; striking; -- in a good sense.
  • adjective Characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor; flaunting; turgid; bombastic; -- in a bad sense.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective large and impressive, in size, scope or extent
  • adjective pompous or pretentious

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective affectedly genteel
  • adjective impressive because of unnecessary largeness or grandeur; used to show disapproval

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Italian grandioso, from grande, great, from Latin grandis.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French grandiose, from Italian grandioso, from Latin grandis ("great, grand") (English grand).

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Examples

Comments

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  • to be grandiose is to display an exaggerated manner

    August 13, 2007

  • grandiose & grandiosity: characterized by greatness of scope or intent. Impressive or elevating in effect; imposing; splendid; striking; -- in a good sense. at times i suffer from grandiosity. inflated sense of self. it does not mean what i am feeling and the expressions of myrself are not real or true or on the negative side of grandiose.

    May 5, 2012