as in bumptious
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Recent Examples of self-dramatizing
Like Frey, Lowell was a self-dramatizing fraudster, taking elements of her real life and grandly embellishing them.
—
Michael Waters, New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2026
The Hemingway in the piece is a comic figure—self-dramatizing, repetitive, marooned within his own monologues, and sometimes ridiculously affected.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
In a head-turning breakout performance, Tonatiuh (seen recently in Carry-On) can flip from proud to humiliated, self-dramatizing to selfless, often within a single line reading.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Michael Waters, New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2026
The Hemingway in the piece is a comic figure—self-dramatizing, repetitive, marooned within his own monologues, and sometimes ridiculously affected.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
In a head-turning breakout performance, Tonatiuh (seen recently in Carry-On) can flip from proud to humiliated, self-dramatizing to selfless, often within a single line reading.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-dramatizing
Adjective
-
In public, Newsom speaks often and openly about his errors, fortifying his image as a bumptious, slightly hapless victim of his own enthusiasms.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The Star of India’s intensely curlicued provenance and bumptious post-sale 20th-century history is a Baedeker for all who might aspire to purchase the Pure Land, should it ever be formally or publicly offered for sale.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The attention to amusing detail is evident throughout, from the vainglorious mayor’s ample display of chest fur to the very long wintry outfit Gary De’Snake wears in snowy conditions.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Nov. 2025
-
All but the most vainglorious architects imagine that their buildings will change in some small way after completion.—
Anthony Paletta,
Curbed,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
He is paired with an arrogant young partner (Lou), a second-generation political scion whose personality clashes sharply with his own.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2026
-
In the early years of his fame as a writer, Rushdie had something of a reputation for being prickly and arrogant, but Gibney’s portrait reveals a man mellowed by time and experience.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Because, for all its self-aggrandizing mythology, the modern studio system is just a labor force, and like any workplace, when its employees cease doing their jobs, that’s when the product stops coming.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
5 Feb. 2026
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This self-aggrandizing aria found a large audience, selling more than 100,000 copies in its first week and topping the charts on Amazon.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Pitt definitely feels like the type of workplace where conceited doctors-in-training are pretty much guaranteed to quickly get knocked down a peg.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
8 Jan. 2026
-
But Grande’s conceited blonde bubblehead gains in stature here as Glinda assumes statesmanlike responsibility to spread goodness in Oz, while experiencing crushing romantic disappointment that humbles her and deflates her vanity.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Starring Oscar Isaac as a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a monstrous creature (played by Jacob Elordi) to life despite all odds and with dire consequences.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
23 Jan. 2026
-
In Lively’s version of events, Baldoni was an egotistical, posturing actor, who tried to present himself as an enlightened male feminist.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
That sweet spot between professionalism, entertainment and high-and-mighty disapproval?—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
-
Lots of high-and-mighty people populate Tyrrell’s recollections.—
John Fund,
National Review,
26 Nov. 2023
Adjective
-
As Wilson, Jenny Ashman is suitably snide and supercilious, a great comic villain.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
29 Jan. 2026
-
And now the supercilious Ivy League twits try to dodge the consequences of their woke follies.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-dramatizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-dramatizing. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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