narcissism

noun

nar·cis·sism | \ ˈnär-sə-ˌsi-zəm

Definition of narcissism

1 : egoism, egocentrism … up until my late 30's I lived in a state of utterly monstrous narcissism and self-absorption …— Frank Conroy

2 : 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

3 : love of or sexual desire of one's own body

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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 That’s partly what Freud meant by the narcissism of small differences: that arguments become deeply personal. — David Marchese, New York Times, "Stephen Fry Would Like to Remind You That You Have No Free Will," 2 May 2021 Some of these characteristics can make a person seem extremely compelling and confident at first, but narcissism is thought to be a cover for deep instability and insecurity. — Washington Post, "Ask Amy: Employee uses PTO to go AWOL," 30 Apr. 2021 Some of these characteristics can make a person seem extremely compelling and confident at first, but narcissism is thought to be a cover for deep instability and insecurity. — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, "Employee uses PTO to go AWOL," 30 Apr. 2021 Some of these characteristics can make a person seem extremely compelling and confident at first, but narcissism is thought to be a cover for deep instability and insecurity. — Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, "Ask Amy: Work manager needs to set PTO policy and enforce it," 30 Apr. 2021 Then again, maybe narcissism and living for half a millennia simply amount to the same thing, and that’s the point of the flashback. — Devon Maloney, Vulture, "Shadow and Bone Recap: Make Me Your Villain," 24 Apr. 2021 How To Litigate Child Custody with A Narcissist (Forbes.com September 10, 2020), numerous articles, blogs and posts address narcissism and child custody all readily available online. — Patricia Fersch, Forbes, "Does A Parent Coordinator Help In High Conflict Custody Cases?," 16 Apr. 2021 Now there would be no distinction between the Republican Party and the mendacity, bigotry, belligerence, misogyny, and narcissism of its singular representative. — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, "What Is Happening to the Republicans?," 8 Mar. 2021 The movie has its entertaining moments, though its rise-and-fall tale starring greed and narcissism isn't novel or essential. — Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, "What to stream this Easter weekend: HBO Max's 'Godzilla vs. Kong,' Netflix's 'Concrete Cowboy'," 1 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'narcissism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster

Dictionary Entries near narcissism

narcissistic personality disorder

Statistics for narcissism

Last Updated

9 May 2021

Cite this Entry

“Narcissism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcissism. Accessed 15 May. 2021.

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More Definitions for narcissism

narcissism

noun

nar·cis·sism | \ ˈnär-sə-ˌsiz-əm

Medical Definition of narcissism

1 : narcissistic personality disorder

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