Swellhead
/ˈswɛlˌhɛd/noun
A conceited or pompous person.
Did you know?The word is a vivid English compound, and its imagery taps a long-standing metaphor in which pride is treated as physical swelling or inflation.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
swellan
“to swell, grow larger, become inflated”
Old English
OE
heafod
“head”
Middle English
ME
swellen
“to swell; to become puffed up”
15th Century
English
swellhed
“a person with an inflated or arrogant manner”
Modern English
English
swellhead
“a conceited or pompous person”