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.
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
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Dominant person pointing in a room
An adult stands tall and points, clearly dominant over another person who is excluded from the process.
The excessive pride shown in the dominant person’s posture and their disregard for the other person represent the extreme arrogance that can invite disaster in a high-stakes setting.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration