bovarism (BO-vuh-riz-em) noun

   An exaggerated, especially glamorized, estimate of oneself; conceit.

[From French bovaryisme, after Emma Bovary, a character in Flaubert's
novel Madame Bovary.]

   "The public property is not so much her as Bovarism. She is part of the
   collective unconscious. She is, and can be, everyone."
   Alan Franks, France's best-kept secret, The Times of London,
   Aug 12, 1995.

This week's theme: fictional characters who live on in the dictionary.

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/bovarism.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/bovarism.ram