Hubris

 WORD OF THE DAY

hubris / noun / HYOO-bris

Definition

: exaggerated pride or self-confidence

Examples
When conceived it was a project of almost unimaginable boldness and foolhardiness, requiring great bravura, risking great hubris.
— Simon Winchester, The Professor and the Madman, 1998

If you were born Somewhere, hubris would come easy. But if you are Nowhere's child, hubris is an import, pride a thing you decide to acquire.
— Sarah Vowell, GQ, May 1998

Did You Know?
English picked up both the concept of hubris and the term for that particular brand of cockiness from the ancient Greeks, who considered hubris a dangerous character flaw capable of provoking the wrath of the gods.
In classical Greek tragedy, hubris was often a fatal shortcoming that brought about the fall of the tragic hero.
Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status, and the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of their mortality.