# Unnecessary words #723: Prideful **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957 "2013-12-10T05:00:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/1 "2013-12-10T05:00:45Z")
I remember Dan Conner (TV Show: Roseanne) using this word in his best slack-jawed yokel caricature, but are there good examples (aside from poking fun at hillbillies) where this word works differently or better than “proud”? And of course we can extend the adjective to get the noun ‘pridefulness’, but what was wrong with the noun ‘pride’ in the first place? pride -\> proud -\> prideful -\> pridefulness I see a few uses of the latter two, but it seems like ‘pride’ and ‘proud’ would work just as well. It this simply another example of the richness of the language, where more synonyms is better? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/2 "2013-12-10T05:03:59Z")
According to our friends at Merriam Webster… > [@Dictionary](#): > > Synonyms > disdainful, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), lofty, lordly, proud, superior Survey says, 5/6 synonyms imply that this is an extreme level of pride with negative connotations. It’s possible to be proud without being prideful about it. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/3 "2013-12-10T05:09:03Z")
I thought pride already had negative connotations. It is one of the seven deadly sins, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/4 "2013-12-10T08:49:20Z")
I feel there are different connotations between proud and prideful. Proud generally describes a legitimate positive feeling about some individual thing that justifies that feeling: a person would say they’re proud of how well their son does in school or they’re proud to have won an award. Prideful generally describes a negative sense in which a person feels superior about every aspect of themselves without any justification. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/5 "2013-12-10T09:28:50Z")
Yes there is definitely a difference. Gay pride for example is a positive thing (or black pride, women’s pride, etc). Pride comes before a fall though. So be careful. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/6 "2013-12-10T12:15:08Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Yes there is definitely a difference. Gay pride for example is a positive thing (or black pride, women’s pride, etc). > > Pride comes before a fall though. So be careful. Actually in Proverbs IIRC it is pride goeth befor destruction haughty spirt befor the fall. Sorry don’t have a Bible here to look it up, I’m sure lots of folks here can cite chapter and verse. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/7 "2013-12-10T14:37:10Z")
I’m a prideful member of the bisexual pridefulness movement. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/8 "2013-12-10T14:38:43Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > Actually in Proverbs IIRC it is pride goeth befor destruction haughty spirt befor the fall. Sorry don’t have a Bible here to look it up, I’m sure lots of folks here can cite chapter and verse. By Jove you’re correct! Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/9 "2013-12-10T14:48:43Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I thought pride already had negative connotations. It is one of the seven deadly sins, after all. Pride has positive connotations and negative connotations. As the dictionary states: > [@](#): > > a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people > > : a feeling that you are more important or better than other people > > : a feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does something good, difficult, etc. Number 2 is surely negative; number 3 is definitely positive; and number 1 seems to lean in the direction of being positive. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/10 "2013-12-10T15:45:38Z")
The words describe different things. “Pride” & “proud” describe feelings, while “pridefull” describes an attitude. It’s the same with “hate” and “hateful”. They are similar, but not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-723-prideful/675957/11 "2013-12-10T21:28:05Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > By Jove you’re correct! Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Well, dang; all this time, I thought that I was okay with having a haughty spirit.