back-patty

adj

back-patty

adj

Etymology From back-pat + -y.

1

Idiomatic Self-congratulatory or self-aggrandizing.

  • We can all start off feeling back-patty and warm with our secret selves, having identified a literary allusion.1969 May, book review, The Strayed Reveller, number 3, page 7:
  • But before we get all back-patty about our leaps and bounds in the progress of human endeavor, it is worth remembering that the world of science can seem extraordinarily backward when it comes to those with two X chromosomes.2018, Elizabeth Foley, Beth Coates, What Would Cleopatra Do?: Life Lessons from 50 of History's Most Extraordinary Women, page 102:
1 more example
  • So what's got me feeling mildly smug and back-patty today?2018 April 5, Marc T. Michael, “In A State Of His Own”, in The Pulse, page 16:
Related terms
pat on the back

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.