Skip to content

Strebertum

sycophantic ambition, grade-grubbing

noun SHTRAY-ber-toom Rare

Also means

over-eager striving for approval

Usage Note

Strebertum is the character flaw of striving too eagerly for advancement, grades, or social approval — especially by ingratiating oneself with superiors. It is always pejorative; a Streber (noun) is the person exhibiting this trait.

Examples

"Seine Klassenkameraden spotteten über sein offensichtliches Strebertum."

Natural Translation

His classmates mocked his obvious grade-grubbing.

Literal Translation

His classmates mocked-at his obvious overachiever-behaviour.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic