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GRE vocabulary

grandiose

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore G words

impressive or ambitious in scale, often excessively so

Word origin: From Italian grandioso, from Latin grandis, grand.

In a sentence

Grandiose in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing grandiose in a sentence.

His grandiose plan to rebuild the entire waterfront never advanced beyond a stack of drawings.

His grandiose scheme to terraform the desert collapsed once the cost estimates arrived.

Synonyms
pretentiousambitiousextravagantmonumental
Antonyms
modesthumbleunpretentious
Usage & nuance

Using “grandiose” well

Grandiose means impressive or ambitious in scale, often to an absurd or pretentious degree. Unlike grandiloquent, which is about language, grandiose is about the size or ambition of plans and conceptions.

Common questions

Questions about “grandiose

Grandiose (adjective) means impressive or ambitious in scale, often excessively so
Here is grandiose used in an example sentence: "His grandiose plan to rebuild the entire waterfront never advanced beyond a stack of drawings." Another example: "His grandiose scheme to terraform the desert collapsed once the cost estimates arrived."
Common synonyms for grandiose include pretentious, ambitious, extravagant, monumental.
Antonyms of grandiose include modest, humble, unpretentious.
Clusters with pretentious, extravagant, and monumental, opposed by modest, humble, and unpretentious. The frequent GRE trap is grandiloquent; grandiose is grand in scope, grandiloquent is grand in speech.
Yes. Grandiose is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

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