narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsi-zəm 
1
: egoism, egocentrism
… up until my late 30's I lived in a state of utterly monstrous narcissism and self-absorption …—
Frank Conroy
Frank Conroy2
: narcissistic personality disorder
One of the premier diagnoses of our times, narcissism is a reflection not only of an apparent trend in mental illness but also of the strains and distortions in the lives of essentially healthy people.—Robert Karen
Robert Karen3
: love of or sexual desire of one's own body
Synonyms
Examples of narcissism in a Sentence
in his narcissism, he just assumed that everyone else wanted to hear the tiny details of his day
Recent Examples on the Web
Sweeney complicates these questions by letting audiences in on certain details other characters don’t know, asking us to root for someone whose profound loneliness and insecurity feeds an unhealthy narcissism (and whose constantly shifting likability Sweeney manages by playing that person himself).
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
Patience is indeed a virtue, but a whiff of narcissism arises when commentators extoll it in others, like a husband praising an adoring wife.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Validation is another great tool to counter workplace narcissism.
—Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Her personality has been cleansed of the too-obvious psychological tics (alcoholism, narcissism, delusion) used to explain her unseemly propositions.
—Amanda Hess, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
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Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
Patience is indeed a virtue, but a whiff of narcissism arises when commentators extoll it in others, like a husband praising an adoring wife.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Validation is another great tool to counter workplace narcissism.
—Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Her personality has been cleansed of the too-obvious psychological tics (alcoholism, narcissism, delusion) used to explain her unseemly propositions.
—Amanda Hess, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for narcissism
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Dictionary Entries Near narcissism
Cite this Entry
“Narcissism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcissism. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsiz-əm
: excessive love and admiration for oneself and especially one's own appearance
Medical Definition
narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsiz-əm
2
: love of or sexual desire for one's own body
3
: the state or stage of development in psychoanalytic theory in which there is considerable erotic interest in one's own body and ego and which in abnormal forms persists through fixation or reappears through regression
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