proud
- 1Feeling honored, gratified, or pleased because of a particular event, fact, or opportunity.
We are proud to welcome the senator to our annual fundraiser.
He was proud that the team had finished the project ahead of schedule.
UsageProud of you or of winning, proud to be here, proud that we won. Also make someone proud.
Similarpleased, honored, delighted, gratified, glad
Oppositeashamed, embarrassed
Note
In BioWare's Mass Effect 2 (2010), a commander tells the crew before a final battle, "Make me proud. Make yourselves proud." Unlike the arrogant sense, this feeling carries no blame.
- 2Causing or giving a feeling of pride; worth being proud of.
The bridge remains a proud symbol of the city's recovery after the flood.
The regiment carries a proud tradition stretching back two centuries.
UsageUsually before a noun: a proud day, a proud moment, a proud tradition.
- 3Thinking too much of oneself and looking down on others; arrogant or haughty.
Critics described the director as proud and dismissive of younger filmmakers.
He grew prouder with every promotion, until no one dared correct him.
Similararrogant, haughty, conceited, vain, snobbish
Note
Scripture's sense of the word, and an old one: Old English prūd already meant "arrogant, haughty." The King James Bible of 1611 condemns everyone "proud in heart," and John Donne's Holy Sonnet rebukes Death itself: "Death be not proud." By 1907, Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales could make a boy "deathly proud" for comic effect, turning the sin into a joke.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- Old English prūd already had the senses arrogant and haughty. en.wiktionary.org
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
- The King James Bible condemns everyone who is proud in heart, in Proverbs 16:5. en.wikisource.org
- John Donne's Holy Sonnet addresses Death with the words quoted. en.wikipedia.org
- Hilaire Belloc wrote Cautionary Tales for Children, first published in 1907. gutenberg.org
- The book describes a boy, Godolphin Horne, as deathly proud. gutenberg.org
- Belloc treats pride comically in a parody of cautionary tales. en.wikipedia.org
- 4Possessing a due sense of one's own worth or of what one deserves; having proper self-respect.
Too proud to accept charity, the farmer insisted on repaying every favor.
They were poor but proud, keeping their small house spotless.
UsageOften too proud to do something, which can be a quiet criticism; poor but proud is praise.
Similardignified, self-respecting
Less common meanings
- 5Standing upward in a stately or majestic manner, as if with the bearing of a person full of pride.
The cathedral's proud spires dominate the skyline.
Their flag flew proud above the ruined fort.
UsageBefore a noun or after a verb like fly or stand: proud spires, a flag that flies proud.
Similarmajestic, stately, lofty, imposing
Note
Here the pride is in the bearing, lent from a person to a thing that stands tall. James Workman's The Mad Emperor (1966) gives soldiers "proud plumes fluttering from their helmets." Spires, flags and towers take the word the same way.
- 6Standing out or raised above the surrounding surface; also, swollen.
Sand the joint until the edge of the new board no longer sits proud of the panel.
The scar tissue remained proud and tender months after the surgery.
UsageUsually stand proud of or sit proud of a surface; the opposite is flush.
Note
A workshop and medical word for anything that rises above its surroundings. In workshop use, the usual fix is to grind, sand or plane the excess down until the surface is level again.
- 7Filled with sexual desire, a sense used especially of a female animal in heat.
Note
A meaning now met mainly in older texts. In such writing a mare or ewe called proud is ready to breed, not haughty. The talk of animals and mating is the clue that separates it from the arrogant meaning.
- 8Brave and valiant; gallant.
Note
An admiring sense now out of use. A proud knight in older writing may be praised for courage rather than blamed for vanity. The difficulty for a modern reader is telling it apart from the arrogant sense, since both describe a confident bearing. The surrounding praise or censure decides. In new writing it survives only as deliberate archaism, and most readers will hear arrogance.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Proud historically had the admiring sense ‘brave, valiant, gallant’, now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
- In older writing, proud can express courage or arrogance, with the context distinguishing them. en.wikipedia.org
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English "proud", from Old English "prūd, prūt" (proud, arrogant, haughty), probably from Old French "prod, prud" (brave, gallant), from Late Latin "prōde" (useful), from Latin "prōdesse" (to be of value). However, related Old English forms suggest the word may be older and possibly native. It is related to Old Norse "prúðr" (gallant, brave, magnificent) and the word "pride".
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 9 facts
- English proud descends through Middle English proud from Old English prūd and prūt. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old English adjective meant proud, arrogant or haughty. gutenberg.org
- The proposed source of the Old English word is Old French. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French prod and prud are forms of the word meaning brave or gallant, derived from Latin prōde. en.wiktionary.org
- Late Latin prōde meant useful and was derived from the verb whose infinitive is prōdesse. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin prōdesse means to be useful or of value. en.wiktionary.org
- Related Old English derivatives support the possibility of an older, native origin. en.wiktionary.org
- Proud is related to Old Norse prúðr, meaning gallant, brave or magnificent. lrc.la.utexas.edu
- Proud and pride are etymologically related. en.wiktionary.org