VocabauraVOCABAURA

pride

noun

Simple meaning

A sense of one's own worth.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pryd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɹaɪd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A sense of one's own worth; reasonable self-esteem and satisfaction (in oneself, in one's work, one's family, etc).

  2. The quality or state of being proud.

  3. An unreasonable overestimation of one's own superiority in terms of talents, or looks, wealth, importance, etc., which comes across as being haughty, lofty, and often showing contempt of others; exaggerated self-worth.

  4. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment that reflects such an attitude (of haughtiness); arrogance.

  5. Something or someone of which one is proud; that which is the source of self-congratulation and self-esteem (whether reasonable or arrogant), for example

  6. Show; ostentation; glory.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A sense of one's own worth; reasonable self-esteem and satisfaction (in oneself, in one's work, one's family, etc).

Used this way, pride is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It turns up most in family or home contexts.

Emotional tone
Slightly positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Family/home

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pride

  • “He takes pride in his son's success.”noun
  • “He prides himself on making it into law school.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “pride”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

take pridenational pridegreat pride

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pride of barbadosnounCompound term

    Tropical shrub or small tree having showy yellow to orange-red flowers.

  • pride of bolivianounCompound term

    Semi-evergreen South American tree with odd-pinnate leaves and golden yellow flowers cultivated as an ornamental.

  • pride of californianounCompound term

    Shrubby California perennial having large pink or violet flowers.

  • pride-of-indianounCompound term

    Tree of northern India and China having purple blossoms and small inedible yellow fruits.

  • pride of placenounCompound term

    The first or highest or most important or most ostentatious place.

  • pride oneselfverbCompound term

    Feel proud of.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: sense of one's own worth

plume

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Collections with this word

Themed sets you can browse for free.

Use it yourself

Knowing “pride” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.