This week’s theme
Words to describe people

This week’s words
fabulist
numpty
rentier
fink
swellhead


Next week’s theme
Portmanteaux

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(SWEL-hed)

MEANING:

noun: A vain, conceited person.

ETYMOLOGY:

Alluding to a person’s having a high opinion of themselves, as having a big swelled head. From swell, from Old English swellan + head, from Old English heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1845.

USAGE:

“Flynn’s Corbett, who has been an overbearing swellhead through most of the film, shows humility and compassion.”
Bob Bloom; History of CIA Brought to Life in ‘Good Shepherd’; Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Indiana); Mar 29, 2007.

See more usage examples of swellhead in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: