ˈpurse-proud, a.
Proud of wealth; puffed up on account of one's wealth.
| 1681 Hickeringill Black Non-Conf. b, Having great Interest, and great Power, and withal, Purse-proud. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman xliii. (1841) II. 149, I think a purseproud tradesman one of the most troublesome and intolerable of all Men. 1781 Cowper Hope 18 The rich grow poor, the poor become purse-proud. 1838 Lytton Alice iii. ii, I..could live happy in a garret, if this purse⁓proud England would but allow one to exist within one's income. 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. v. 113 He was not in the least purse-proud or pompous, but always modest and unassuming. 1967 Guardian 27 June 8/3 One of Britain's biggest manufacturers of swimming pools..claims to have captured 40 per cent of a purse-proud market. |