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Pride

[praɪd] · pride · English · noun
positiveintensity: mediumjoytrust

A feeling about one's own worth or achievement.

Definition

A feeling about one's own worth or achievement — spanning proper self-respect and satisfaction, and (negatively) inordinate conceit.

Connotation & usage

The broad, parent term, and the only one genuinely two-valued: a positive sense (proper self-respect, warranted satisfaction — “took pride in her work”) and a negative sense (inordinate self-esteem, conceit — one of the deadly sins). “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us” (Austen). Unlike hubris, vanity, or smugness, pride in its positive sense is endorsed by speaker and others alike.

Senses & usage

Proper pride

Reasonable self-respect, or satisfaction in an honorable achievement or association.

The neutral-to-positive default (“take pride in”), attested in Middle English.

Inordinate pride

Exaggerated self-esteem or conceit — one of the seven deadly sins.

The earliest attested sense in late Old English (“pride goes before a fall”).

Group identity (Pride)

Solidarity and celebration of a shared identity — notably LGBTQ+ Pride.

A modern sense; Pride celebrations date from the late 1970s.

Related words

Etymology

From late Old English pryto “self-esteem, pride,” from the adjective prud/proud, which came via Old French from Late Latin prode “advantageous.”

How it has changed

The dual valence is old: the negative “deadly sin” sense is attested first (late Old English), but Middle English already carried a positive strand (“proper pride, honor, splendor”). The “pride of lions” sense (late 15c.) became common only in the 20th century; the LGBTQ+ “Pride” sense is contemporary.

Sources

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From The Lexicon of Feeling — a carefully sourced dictionary & thesaurus of emotions across 60 languages. Definitions are verified against the cited sources; emotion-family, valence, and intensity tags are editorial. This is a learning tool for emotional vocabulary, not therapy or a substitute for professional care. © 2026 The Lexicon of Feeling.