presumptuous

English

Alternative forms

• præsumptuous, presumptious, presumtious (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English presumptuous, borrowed from Old French presumptieus, presumpcieus, presumptuos, from Latin praesumptuosus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈzʌmp.tʃuː.əs/, /pɹəˈzʌmp.tjuː.əs/, (informal) /pɹəˈzʌmp.ʃəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈzʌmpt͡ʃuəs/, /pɹiˈzʌmpt͡ʃuəs/, (informal) /pɹəˈzʌmp.ʃəs/

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Adjective

presumptuous (comparative more presumptuous, superlative most presumptuous)

1. Making unwarranted presumptions or assumptions, often out of arrogance or excessive self-confidence, and thus exceeding what is appropriate or right.

   Synonyms: forward, overconfident, presuming, presumptive; see also Thesaurus:arrogant

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 105, column 2:

     Preſumptuous Prieſt, this place cōmands my patiēce, / Or thou ſhould'ſt finde thou haſt dis-honor'd me.

   • 1596, [attributed to William Shakespeare; Thomas Kyd], The Raigne of King Edward the Third: , London: for Cuthbert Burby, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     Is this the proud presumtious Esquire of the North, / That would not yeeld his prisoner to my Queen

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Psalms 19:13:

     Keepe back thy seruant also from presumptuous sinnes, let them not haue dominion ouer me: then shall I be vpright, and I shalbe innocent from the great transgression.

   • 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter III, in Middlemarch , volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I:

     Dorothea checked herself suddenly with self-rebuke for the presumptuous way in which she was reckoning on uncertain events, but she was spared any inward effort to change the direction of her thoughts by the appearance of a cantering horseman round a turning of the road.

   • 1878, Henry James, chapter X, in The Europeans‎, Macmillan and Co.:

     “Of course,” said Felix, “I suggest nothing; it would be very presumptuous in me to advise you. But I think there is no doubt about the fact.”

   • 1904 May, Winston Churchill, chapter XIV, in The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book III (Louisiana), page 576:

     The powers of the world were making ready to crush the presumptuous France of the Jacobins, and the France of King and Aristocracy would be restored.

Derived terms

• presumptuously
• presumptuousness

Related terms

• presumption
• presume

Translations

References