From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordChaunoō means puff up, inflate; make someone conceited through praise.
- In LysisSocrates contrasts his own humbling conversation with Hippothales’ χαυνοῦντα, “puffing up,” of the beloved.
- Reading contextThe term helps the reader connect the apparently independent family-and-knowledge argument with the earlier instruction in courtship.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “puffing him up and pampering him.”
- English renderings
- Puff up, inflate; make someone conceited through praise
Meaning
Puff up, inflate; make someone conceited through praise.
Grammatical category: verb.
Use in the book
Socrates contrasts his own humbling conversation with Hippothales’ χαυνοῦντα, “puffing up,” of the beloved. The participle looks back to the prediction that praise fills beautiful boys with pride and makes them difficult to win.
The image concerns an expansion of self-opinion without the understanding that could support it. It is coupled with pampering, not offered as an analysis of physical weakness or material porosity. The term helps the reader connect the apparently independent family-and-knowledge argument with the earlier instruction in courtship.
Places to read
- 210eχαυνοῦντα καὶ διαθρύπτοντα — puffing him up and pampering him.