aggrandize
\uh-GRAN-dahyz, AG-ruhn-dahyz\
verb
1. to widen in scope; increase in size or intensity; enlarge; extend.
2. to make great or greater in power, wealth, rank, or honor.
Quotes
…a just man always fared worse than the unjust, because he neglected to aggrandize himself by dishonest actions, and thus became unpopular among his acquaintances; while those who were less scrupulous, grew rich and were flattered.
-- Lydia Maria Child, Philothea, 1836
Origin
Aggrandize came to English in the 1620s from the French aggrandir meaning "to magnify."
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