Home › Glossary › Letter P

Pride

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A sense of self-worth and dignity that can manifest as healthy self-respect or destructive hubris; in poetry, pride is a central tragic flaw, leading to downfall or conversely, to noble defiance.

Detailed Definition
Pride in poetry strides through heroic boasts, defiant declarations, or quiet dignity. Poets explore both noble pride (self-respect) and fatal hubris (fall of Icarus). It appears in dramatic monologues, epic, and confessional verse, where pride masks fear or invites downfall. Pride shapes identity and conflict; its wound can be more painful than physical harm. Poets use pride to examine ethics, ambition, and the precariousness of reputation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pride in John Milton's "Paradise Lost" where pride causes the fall; In John Donne's holy sonnets, pride is a sin; In William Blake's "The Tyger," pride is a theme; In contemporary poetry, pride can be healthy or hubristic; In "Ozymandias" by Shelley, pride is mocked; In dramatic monologues, pride often leads to downfall.
Additional Notes
Pride in poetry strides through heroic boasts, defiant declarations, or quiet dignity, exploring both noble self-respect and fatal hubris. In teaching, distinguish pride from arrogance: pride is a sense of self-worth, while arrogance is overbearing pride. Poets explore pride's role in identity and conflict, its wounds and downfalls. It shapes ethics, ambition, and reputation. Students should examine how poets use heroic imagery, defiant statements, and dramatic irony to convey pride's double-edged power—its capacity to elevate and to destroy.
Also Known As
Self-esteem dignity arrogance hubris vanity Hybris
Skip to main content