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When you act with abandon, you give in to the impulse of the moment and behave in a wild, uncontrolled way.
You affront someone by openly and intentionally offending or insulting him.
If your behavior or manner is altruistic, you show you care more about other people and their interests than you care about yourself.
Someone who is arrogant thinks very highly of themselves; as a result, they can be overbearing, full of themselves, self-important, and act in a superior fashion towards others.
An audacious person acts with great daring and sometimes reckless bravery—despite risks and warnings from other people—in order to achieve something.
An autocratic person rules with complete power; consequently, they make decisions and give orders to people without asking them for their opinion or advice.
Bonhomie is a friendly feeling among a group of people.
If you describe a person’s behavior as brazen, you mean that they are not embarrassed by anything they do—they simply don’t care what other people think about them.
Bumptious people are annoying because they are too proud of their abilities or opinions—they are full of themselves.
Camaraderie is a feeling of friendship and trust among a group of people who have usually known each over a long period of time.
A cavalier person does not seem to care about rules, principles, or other people’s feelings, no matter how dire or serious a situation may be.
If you are chary of doing something, you are cautious or timid about doing it because you are afraid that something bad will happen.
A chivalrous man behaves in a polite, kind, generous, and honorable way, especially towards women.
Complacent persons are too confident and relaxed because they think that they can deal with a situation easily; however, in many circumstances, this is not the case.
If you possess conceit, you have excessive self-pride—and thus think too highly of your own abilities.
A man who is debonair wears fashionable clothes and is sophisticated, charming, friendly, and confident.
If you describe someone, usually a young woman, as demure, you mean that she is quiet, shy, and always behaves modestly.
Someone who is diffident is shy, does not want to draw notice to themselves, and is lacking in self-confidence.
Effrontery is very rude behavior that shows a great lack of respect and is often insulting.
Someone who is egotistical thinks about or is concerned with no one else other than themselves.
An egregious mistake, failure, or problem is an extremely bad and very noticeable one.
If you show exuberance, you display great excitement, energy, and enthusiasm.
When someone flaunts their good looks, they show them off or boast about them in a very proud and shameless way.
If you think someone is showing hubris, you think that they are demonstrating excessive pride and vanity.
Hyperbole is a way of emphasizing something that makes it sound much more impressive or much worse than it actually is.
If someone is impassive, they are not showing any emotion.
When something is implicit, it is understood or implied without having to say it.
Something that is inconspicuous does not attract attention and is not easily seen or noticed because it is small or ordinary.
Someone who is indiscreet shows lack of judgment, especially because they say or do things in public that should only be said or done privately—if at all.
Something that inhibits you from doing something restricts or keeps you from doing it.
If something is inordinate, it is much larger in amount or degree than is normally expected.
When you exhibit moderation, you do nothing to excess; rather, you live in a balanced and measured way.
Narcissism is the habit of always thinking about yourself and constantly admiring your own appearance or qualities.
To be politic in a decision is to be socially wise and diplomatic.
If you are pompous, you think that you are better than other people; therefore, you tend to show off and be highly egocentric.
When you are presumptuous, you act improperly, rudely, or without respect, especially while attempting to do something that is not socially acceptable or that you are not qualified to do.
If you are pretentious, you think you are really great in some way and let everyone know about it, despite the fact that it’s not the case at all.
People who are reticent are unwilling to share information, especially about themselves, their thoughts, or their feelings.
When you strut, you move as though you own the world by walking in a confident and showy fashion.
If you behave in a supercilious way, you act as if you were more important or better than everyone else.
If you show temperance, you act with self-restraint and so don’t do things in excess; you also stay away from drinking alcohol.
Someone who is unassuming is not boastful or arrogant; rather, they are modest or humble.
A feeling that is unbridled is enthusiastic and unlimited in its expression.
An action or deed is unconscionable if it is excessively shameful, unfair, or unjust and its effects are more severe than is reasonable or acceptable.
If someone acts in an unobtrusive way, their actions are not easily noticed and do not stand out in any way.
If you are vainglorious, you are very proud of yourself and let other people know about it.
Adj.
overweening
OH-ver-WEE-ning
Context
The pop star’s overweening or excessive pride seems to be at the root of her incredible self-promotion. I think that her vast, overweening ambition is unattractive, even if it has made her very wealthy. The music industry is famous for creating huge egos and overweening personalities that are just too full of themselves.
Quiz:Try again!
When is someone overweening?
When that person is always at the center of attention.
When that person always puts his or her needs first.
When that person is overly full of self-pride and ambition.
Lover Preening So, you think that you're hot stuff, huh? Always preening yourself in front of the mirror for your lover because you think that she really digs you, right? Well, let me tell you, buddy boy, I've got a date with her tonight, you overweening, over preening fop!
Examples
India’s curse — like China’s until quite recently — has been an overweening state that squeezes out private investment and creates massive opportunities for corruption.
—
The Economist
The rest of Nader’s program focuses on the redistribution of wealth, the overweening power of the corporate culture and the dangers of globalization.
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Newsweek
The establishments are attractive in themselves, but the fact that they are nightly turning away hundreds who can not be accommodated is due primarily to the Berliner’s overweening fondness for foreign names, such as the cafes bear.
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The New York Times
Cato’s privatization effort was aimed from the start not just at dismantling Social Security but also at making major inroads against what it considered an overweening central government.
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The Washington Post
When one is guilty of being overweening, one is “thinking above” or “supposing over” a modest or humble state, and thus thinks way too highly of oneself.
origin: Old English
Knowing language of origin or etymology is not important; but is sometimes interesting enough to make the word memorable. Only such words have associated maps.
Word Theater
How I Met Your Mother Barney has an overweening opinion of himself.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!