to plume oneself on something
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To be proud of it, conceited about it; to boast of it. A plume is a feather, and to plume oneself is to feather one's own conceit.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to plume oneself on something” mean?
To be proud of it, conceited about it; to boast of it. A plume is a feather, and to plume oneself is to feather one's own conceit.
Is “to plume oneself on something” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.