Etymologically
Log in

hubris

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 07:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhjuːbɹɪs/ (UK); /ˈhjubɹɪs/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕβρις (húbris, “wanton violence, insolence”),[2][3][4][5] a word of unknown origin.[4] Etymonline suggests a first element meaning “up, out”, and notes that the second is debated.[5] The English word may also be a back-formation from hubristic (1831).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Presumption, originally towards the gods; pride, excessive self-confidence (1884).[6][4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Greek the word meant outrageous, insolent behaviour, originally presumption towards the gods.[5][6] English took it over in its 19th-century literary and academic sense of overweening pride.[6][2] The spelling hybris, closer to the Greek, began to appear in translations of Nietzsche around 1911.[5][7]

Timeline

  • 1831 – hubristic.[4]
  • 1884 – presumption, excessive pride.[6][4][3][5]
  • about 1911 – the spelling hybris.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

Word family

  • hubristic
  • hubristically
  • unhubristic

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House