ˈprau̇d adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English prūd, prūt, probably from Old French prod, prud, prut, prou good, capable, brave, from Late Latin prode advantageous, advantage, from Latin prodesse to be useful, be beneficial, from prod- (variant of pro- before, forward) + esse to be — more at pro- , is
1. : feeling or showing pride: as
a. : having or displaying inordinate self-esteem
goaded the proud baronage — J.R.Green
his cold and proud nature — A. Conan Doyle
b. : highly satisfied or pleased : deeply gratified : elated , exultant
proud to have such men — Sherwood Anderson
a proud boy … he has made something with his own hands — Better Homes & Gardens
— often used with of
proud of his success
a record to be proud of
c. chiefly Midland : glad , delighted
we'd be proud to have you stay for supper
d. : marked by a proper or becoming self-respect
too proud to fight — Woodrow Wilson
brought a proud … efficiency to everything she did — Fred Majdalany
2.
a. : marked by stateliness or magnificence : splendid
proud princes and humble peasants — Vicki Baum
proud old castles — E.O.Hauser
b. : giving reason or occasion for pride : glorious
a proud heritage
our proudest feat — Joyce Cary
his proudest moment — Paul Pickrel
3. : marked by great vitality or power : vigorous , exuberant : as
a. of an animal : full of spirit : mettlesome
a proud steed
b. of a body of water : overflowing its banks : swollen
the proud stream
c.
(1) of granulation tissue : growing exuberantly
proud growth in an old wound
(2) of a plant , Britain : luxuriant
proud corn
4. : arising from or produced by pride
a proud look
5. chiefly dialect , of a female animal : sexually excited : in heat
6.
a. chiefly dialect Britain : protuberant — used especially of construction
proud … jointings may have to be pared down — Choice of Careers: Furniture Manufacturing
proud base edges — F.W.Mann
b. of a cutting tool : having a large amount of top rake
Synonyms:
proud , arrogant , haughty , lordly , insolent , overbearing , supercilious , disdainful can mean in common showing a sense of one's superiority and scorn for what one regards as beneath him. proud may stress less the idea of one's sense of superiority than the idea of one's sense of accomplishment, often genuine, or strong self-respect, often justified, although it often implies an assumed superiority or suggests a loftiness or manifest self-congratulation in manner or appearance
proud to publish a group of excellent reference works — Saturday Review
he was too proud to admit failure and withdraw — Aldous Huxley
he had a mild impersonal manner and was proud of having no rancor for any of the criminals he arrested — Morley Callaghan
she is proud of everything of which she should be ashamed — H.T.Buckle
a proud and objectionable bearing toward colleagues
arrogant implies a claiming for oneself, often domineeringly or offensively, more consideration, importance, or worth than is warranted
he was not, however, disagreeably arrogant or contemptuous in a cutting way as I am afraid I had been at that age — Edmund Wilson
vain, arrogant, blustering, trying to keep leadership of his associates — Amy Loveman
an arrogant disregard for the popular will — D.D.McKean
haughty stresses an obvious consciousness of superior position or character and an obvious scorn of things regarded as beneath one
supercilious and haughty, they turn this way and that, like the dowagers of very aristocratic families at a plebeian evening party — Aldous Huxley
a cold and haughty stare
lordly implies behavior or bearing befitting a nobleman but can also suggest pure pompousness or an arrogant display of power or magnificence
these lordly archbishops who once ranked second to the emperor himself — Claudia Cassidy
she had collected — or rather had received — almost with the air of a domestic, four-fifty per week from a lordly foreman in a shoe factory — a man who, in distributing the envelopes, had the manner of a prince doling out favors to a servile group of petitioners — Theodore Dreiser
a lordly condescension
insolent implies an improper and manifest contemptuousness, suggesting a will to insult or affront
vile food, vile beyond belief, slapped down before their sunken faces by insolent waiters — Katherine A. Porter
searching the crowd until he found the face from which that insolent jeering came — O.E Rölvaag
an insolent familiarity
overbearing suggests a bullying or tyrannical disposition or manifest preemption of power, or an intolerable insolence
backcountry militiamen whose rough overbearing manners sorely tried the Indians' patience — American Guide Series: Tennessee
he was arrogant, overbearing, conceited, and passionate — without any rank which could excuse pride, or any acquirement that could justify conceit — Anthony Trolope
whose temper was so overbearing, that he could not restrain himself from speaking disrespectfully of that young lady at this desk — Charles Dickens
supercilious stresses an outward appearance of patronizing haughtiness though it also suggests inner conceit and often not only scorn but also incivility
he looks upon the whole struggle with the supercilious contempt of an indifferent spectator — Leslie Stephen
his dislike of me gleamed in his blue eyes and in his supercilious, cold smile — Rose Macaulay
disdainful implies a more contemptuous and more manifest scorn than supercilious
nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile the short and simple annals of the poor — Thomas Gray
a little vanity and a little sensuality, says a disdainful French moralist, is about all that enters into the makeup of the average man — Irving Babbitt