swollen head

A colleague's swollen head made teamwork difficult.

Definition

1. Noun (informal):
   • Conceit or arrogance: "swollen head" refers to an exaggerated sense of one's own importance, abilities, or achievements; a state of being overly proud or self-important.

Usage Examples

• (He became arrogant and self-important.)
• (Her conceit alienated others.)
• (Do not become arrogant due to achievement.)

Advanced Usage

• "to have a swollen head": to be conceited or full of oneself.
  • Ever since he got promoted, he has had a swollen head. (He has become arrogant since the promotion.)
• "to give someone a swollen head": to cause someone to become conceited.
  • The constant praise gave the young singer a swollen head. (The praise made her excessively proud.)

Variants and Related Words

• Big head (n, informal): synonym for "swollen head" meaning conceit.
  • He got a big head after his team won the championship. (He became arrogant.)
• Swollen-headed (adj): having an exaggerated opinion of oneself; conceited.
  • The swollen-headed actor refused to speak to the crew. (The arrogant actor.)

Synonyms

• Conceit: excessive pride in oneself.
• Arrogance: an attitude of superiority.
• Self-importance: an exaggerated sense of one's own value.
• Vanity: excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements.

Related Idioms

• To be full of oneself: to be very self-absorbed or arrogant.
  • She's so full of herself since she got the lead role. (She is conceited.)
• To have a swelled head: alternative form of "swollen head".
  • He has a swelled head after his speech was praised. (He is arrogant.)

Usage Notes

• "Swollen head" is almost always used in informal contexts to describe a negative personality trait.
• It is often used with the verb "to have" or "to get" (e.g., ).