self-love

noun

ˌself-ˈləv 

: love of self: such as

a

: an appreciation of one's own worth or virtue

Self-love begins when we observe our actions and words with compassion as if we were our own best friend.

—Sara M Bosworth

Just as you'd think, it's love—particular, self-love—that makes the world go around.

—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Often we are reluctant to promote self-love mostly because we confuse it with selfishness. Since we are humans, we ought to have a healthy love for ourselves; it is from this fount that love flows out to others.

—Mason Olds

b

: proper regard for and attention to one's own happiness or well-being

Nurturing your body seems simple, but for me it feels like an extreme act of self-love.

—Danielle d'Entremont

Lisa Concepcion, a certified professional love life coach and founder of LoveQuest Coaching, says that journaling is an excellent way to practice self-love.

—SheKnows

c

: inflated love of or pride in oneself : narcissism, conceit

… individuals ruled by self-love and selfishness …

—John Saillant

"Then from myself pray understand that I will say nothing to flatter your self-love."

—Anthony Trollope

… there was the self-love of those conceited blockheads who … were convinced that they themselves were superior to anything the age could produce.

—John Clive

self-loving

ˌself-ˈlə-viŋ 

adjective

Synonyms

• amour propre
• bighead
• complacence
• complacency
• conceit
• conceitedness
• ego
• egotism
• pomposity
• pompousness
• pride
• pridefulness
• self-admiration
• self-assumption
• self-conceit
• self-congratulation
• self-esteem
• self-glory
• self-importance
• self-opinion
• self-satisfaction
• smugness
• swelled head
• swellheadedness
• vaingloriousness
• vainglory
• vainness
• vanity

Examples of self-love in a Sentence

nurtured a self-love that was far greater than any affection she ever felt for another person

Recent Examples on the Web

Anorexia, in this telling, was irreducibly individual: a failure of self-love, cured by self-work, self-care, self-reform. —Sarah Aziza, People.com, 14 May 2025

The lyrics aren’t much better, recycling various cliches about self-love. —Barry Levitt, Vulture, 12 May 2025

In the second book, This Is Us, there's so much about self-love, which is unusual in a romance novel. —Monique Wilson, Glamour, 11 May 2025

Start with small steps: reconnect with friends, strengthen family bonds and nurture self-love. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-love

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• of
• shove
• hereinabove