The New Cool Word

What it means

‘Orgulous’ is an adjective meaning haughty, proud or disdainful. Other synonyms include ostentatious (that’s a good one, too) and showy. That’s a useful one. As an adverb, it’s ‘orgulously’. 

Where it comes from

I was looking up words that Shakespeare had apparently brought into common usage, and I found this beauty on the list. He used it in his tragedy, Troilus and Cressida:

In Troy, there lies the scene. From isles of Greece
The princes orgulous, their high blood chafed,
Have to the port of Athens sent their ships,
Fraught with the ministers and instruments
Of cruel war:

But after some research I soon found that it wasn’t Shakespeare who first used this gem. According to the Merriam Webster (online) dictionary, the first known usage is from the 13th century. Wikitionary shows the etymology as, From Middle English orgulous, orgeilous, from Old French orgueilleus, orguillus (“proud”), from orgoil, orgueil (“pride”), from Old Low Frankish *urgol (“pride”). Cognate with Old High German urguol (“excellent”), Old English orgel (“pride”). More at orgul.

It’s nice and old, and therefore totally ready for a comeback.

Why it’s the new cool word

It’s the way orgulous rolls off the tongue. The contrast between the hard ‘org’ and the softer ‘lous’ is wonderful. And let’s face it, there are never enough words to describe a proud, ostentatious character, because there sure are a lot of them. 

How we should use it

I don’t know why, but I keep pairing with fellow. ‘He’s an orgulous fellow’, but I feel like that comes across far too sweet. Hearing ‘orgulous’ gives me quite a strong negative nuance, so I propose it’s use that way. The orgulous fellow I’m picturing is that annoying guy that everyone knows, who thinks he’s above everyone else, and likes to show it. 

Basically, he thinks his shit don’t stink. But doesn’t orgulous sound so much better than that?