The Greek alazoneia means boasting, arrogance, or empty pretension — the posturing of one who claims more than they have or are. It denotes a self-aggrandizing braggart spirit.
Alazoneia appears in James 4:16 ("boasting and bragging") and 1 John 2:16 ("the pride of life") as one of the three great worldly temptations alongside the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. The alazon is the pretender — one who advertises more than he is, who makes promises he cannot keep, who takes credit for what God has done. In contrast, Paul boasts only in the cross (Galatians 6:14) and in his weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30).