Proud (?), a. [Compar.Prouder (?); superl. Proudest.] [OE. proud, prout, prud, prut, AS. prūt; akin to Icel. prūðr stately, handsome, Dan. prud handsome. Cf. Pride.]

"1.Feeling or manifesting pride, in a good or bad sense; as: (a) Possessing or showing too great self-esteem; overrating ones excellences; hence, arrogant; haughty; lordly; presumptuous."

Nor much expect A foe so proud will first the weaker seek. Milton.

O death, made proud with pure and princely beauty ! Shak.

"And shades impervious to the proud worlds glare." Keble.

(b) Having a feeling of high self-respect or self-esteem; exulting (in); elated; -- often with of; as, proud of one\s country. "Proud to be checked and soothed." Keble.

Are we proud men proud of being proud ? Thackeray.

2. Giving reason or occasion for pride or self-gratulation; worthy of admiration; grand; splendid; magnificent; admirable; ostentatious. "Of shadow proud." Chapman. "Proud titles." Shak. " The proud temple\s height." Dryden.

Till tower, and dome, and bridge-way proud Are mantled with a golden cloud. Keble.

3. Excited by sexual desire; -- applied particularly to the females of some animals. Sir T. Browne.

☞ Proud is often used with participles in the formation of compounds which, for the most part, are self-explaining; as, proud-crested, proud-minded, proud-swelling.

Proud flesh (Med.), a fungous growth or excrescence of granulations resembling flesh, in a wound or ulcer.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913