aggrandize

/əˌgrænˈdaɪz/

Other forms: aggrandized; aggrandizing; aggrandizes

If you are a window washer, but you refer to yourself as a "vista enhancement specialist," then you are aggrandizing your job title — that is, making it sound greater than it is.

The verb aggrandize not only means "to make appear greater"; it can also be used to mean simply "to make greater." If you buy an estate and sink millions of dollars into its improvement, then you are actually aggrandizing the estate. If you are making yourself seem greater, then people may say you are "self-aggrandizing."

Definitions of aggrandize

1. verb

   add details to
   synonyms: aggrandise, blow up, dramatise, dramatize, embellish, embroider, lard, pad

   types:

   glorify

   cause to seem more splendid

   type of:

   amplify, exaggerate, hyperbolise, hyperbolize, magnify, overdraw, overstate

   to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth