Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Pride of wealth; insolence proceeding from consciousness of the possession of wealth.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Of course the pessimist sees purse-pride, pompous and outrageous arrogance, a cringing of the pregnant hinges of the knee, false standards, and a thousand faults in this admission.

    Manners and Social Usages Mrs. John M. E. W. Sherwood

  • Here in the old days two lovers held their tryst: a sturdy and honest young farmer of the neighborhood and the daughter of a man whose wealth puffed him with purse-pride.

    Myths and Legends of Our Own Land — Volume 04 : Tales of Puritan Land 1879

  • He has a good word for the virtues, he patronizes the Christian graces, he pats humble merit on the head; he has even explosions of indignation against the insolence and pride of birth, and purse-pride.

    My Literary Passions William Dean Howells 1878

  • He has a good word for the virtues, he patronizes the Christian graces, he pats humble merit on the head; he has even explosions of indignation against the insolence and pride of birth, and purse-pride.

    Literature and Life (Complete) William Dean Howells 1878

  • Her purse-pride was obvious, but as inoffensive as purse-pride can be.

    The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) Marion Harland 1876

  • Through all the talk of these wretched entities, be it observed that money, money runs as a species of key-note; the men may be coarse and servile, but a shrewd eye can detect every sign of purse-pride.

    Side Lights James Runciman 1871

  • He believed that he was perfectly free from what he himself would have called the dirt and littleness of purse-pride -- or acre-pride, and would on some occasions assert that he really thought nothing of himself because he was Newton of Newton.

    Ralph the Heir Anthony Trollope 1848

  • Atheism, and Unbelief in any thing save in brute Force and Sensualism; pride of birth, pride of office, any known kind of pride being a degree better than purse-pride.

    The French Revolution Thomas Carlyle 1838

  • Her father had risen into the possession of some unexpected property when it was too late to bestow upon her a suitable education, and the consequence was that, in addition to natural vanity, on the score of beauty, she was a good deal troubled with purse-pride, which, with a foolish susceptibility of flattery, was a leading feature in her disposition.

    The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two William Carleton 1831

  • Murray was a good deal touched with purse-pride -- the most offensive and contemptible description of pride in the world -- and would never have suffered an intimacy, were it not for the reason I have alleged.

    Phelim Otoole's Courtship and Other Stories Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of William Carleton, Volume Three William Carleton 1831

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