Hubris
noun /ˈhjuːbrɪs/ — Pride so excessive it brings its own downfall.
Definition
Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance so extreme that it invites disaster — particularly the pride in Greek tragedy that leads heroes to destruction.
Beyond the definition
The Greeks built an entire concept of tragedy around hubris — the idea that excessive pride doesn't just offend the gods; it warps your judgment until you make the mistake that destroys you. Every corporate collapse, every political downfall has hubris somewhere in the story.
Origin & history
From Ancient Greek hybris — wanton violence, outrage, insolence. In Greek tragedy, hubris was the sin of assuming godlike authority for oneself.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The company's hubris was extraordinary — they had stopped listening three years before the collapse.
Hubris isn't just arrogance; it's arrogance that blinds you to your own vulnerabilities.
Greek tragedy was invented to show what hubris does to people who should know better.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Hubris” when the meaning fits your context: Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance so extreme that it invites disaster — particularly the pride in Greek tragedy that leads heroes to destruction.
Synonyms
arrogance, overconfidence, pride, vanity, presumptuousness
Antonyms
humility, modesty, restraint
Related words
Hubris vs arrogance
Arrogance is an exaggerated sense of one's own abilities or importance — unpleasant but not necessarily fatal. Hubris is arrogance of a specifically dangerous kind: the pride that goes so far it warps judgment, invites catastrophe, and offends the natural order. The ancient Greeks believed hubris provoked nemesis — divine punishment. Modern hubris plays out the same way, just without the gods. All hubris involves arrogance; not all arrogance rises to hubris.
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
The tech founder had appeared on three magazine covers in the same month. The profiles described him in terms he did not correct and may have believed. He was thirty-one and had been right about everything so far.
The thing about being right about everything so far is that it produces a particular quality of certainty — a certainty that the pattern will continue. The pattern did not continue.
The company survived the subsequent two years, reduced in scale and ambition. He emerged from it different: more careful with certainty, more attentive to the specific places where he'd stopped listening. He gives talks about it now. The talk is the most useful thing he's done.
Questions about this word
What does "Hubris" mean?
Hubris is noun meaning: Pride so excessive it brings its own downfall.. Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance so extreme that it invites disaster — particularly the pride in Greek tragedy that leads heroes to destruction.
Which words express “pride that creates its own downfall”?
Hubris — Pride so excessive it brings its own downfall.
Where does the word "Hubris" come from?
From Ancient Greek hybris — wanton violence, outrage, insolence. In Greek tragedy, hubris was the sin of assuming godlike authority for oneself.