ἀλαζονεία“boasting”The word ἀλαζονεία (alazoneia), the abstract noun for boastful pretension or empty boasting, is the well-known form of this family. It appears in John's phrase "the pride of life" and in James's rebuke of merchants who brag that they will get rich tomorrow. It names the vice itself: a self-inflating pride whose claim outruns reality, a confidence in one's own plans and possessions that leaves no room for God. Its matching word ἀλαζών (alazon) names the person who has this fault, the braggart himself, so alazoneia is that same fault named as a quality rather than as a person. The two are one word in different forms and are studied together.