first-person

1 of 2

adjective

first-per·​son ˈfərs(t)-ˈpər-sᵊn 

variants or less commonly first person

1

: of, relating to, or occurring in the first person

a first-person narrative

a first-person verb form

2

: experienced as if through the eyes of an avatar (as in a video game)

As 3-D first-person games evolved, … visual verisimilitude improved …

—Ian Bogost

When playing as the lead guitarist in first person mode players will see fans react to how they play.

—Sean Michael

see also first-person shooter

first person

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: a set of linguistic forms (such as verb forms, pronouns, and inflectional affixes) referring to the speaker or writer of the utterance in which they occur

b

: a linguistic form belonging to such a set

c

: reference of a linguistic form to the speaker or writer of the utterance in which it occurs

2

: a style of discourse marked by general use of verbs and pronouns of the first person

Examples of first-person in a Sentence

Noun

She always wrote in the first person.

The sentence “I was born in Maine” is written in the first person.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

On his Facebook page, Abdulkarim had shared several first-person videos in which a man — presumably Abdulkarim — is seen lighting fires in a warehouse. —Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026

Unmanned weapons are now responsible for most battlefield casualties as small first-person view drones hunt down individual troops or vehicles. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2026

Ukraine is also scaling production of low-cost first-person-view drones at a pace far beyond Western militaries. —Aidan Stretch, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026

His company started collecting its own first-person videos this year from workers at manufacturing facilities in India. —Stephanie Yang, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1751, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

first person

noun

1

: a set of words or forms (as pronouns or verb forms) referring to the person speaking or writing them

2

: a writing style making use of pronouns and verbs of the first person

first person narration