Sentence:  It was a word he was proud of , a word that meant much to him , and he used it with great pleasure , almost as if it were an exclusive possession , and more : he sensed himself to <WSD>be</WSD> very highly educated , four cuts above any of the folks back home . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)