self-flattering

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of self-flattering Not waste time on glib and self-flattering diversions. Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2025 Convert a self-flattering remark into a mixture of both humility-based and complaint-based. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024 The notion that history is a story of progress is another self-flattering illusion. Helena Rosenblatt, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-flattering
Adjective
  • Sian Clifford gives a larger-than-life performance as a narcissistic aristocrat who hires a struggling filmmaker to record her every move, in Samuel Abraham’s eccentric mockumentary.
    Zac Ntim, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025
  • As the show’s narcissistic heel, Impacciatore’s performance reminds me of Janelle James’ saccharine-cutting turn in Abbott.
    Judy Berman, Time, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The community organizer turned president turned socialite has never been great at hiding his egocentric ways.
    Grace Curley, Boston Herald, 21 July 2025
  • Bang is perfect for this kind of role, playing an imposing figure who can be both aloof and egocentric, and whose grand stature diminishes as the film progresses.
    Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2025
Adjective
  • The seminal story of hubristic man’s creation of intelligence, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, arose from the voice of a 19-year-old woman.
    Adam Verner September 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The hubristic nature of the expedition that follows, and the landscapes captured, call to mind a very different Herzog title.
    Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The kooky characters surrounding Judge Stone included the conceited prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), the imposing bailiff Bull Shannon (Richard Moll), and the idealistic public defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), each of whom had various quirks of their own.
    Dan Heching, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • This is the worst kind of football team: a conceited but objectively mediocre squad.
    Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 17 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Their challenge on Frankenstein was bringing to the big screen the horror-meister’s vision of egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein and his monster as part of a diabolical experiment.
    Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Esmeralda is incompetent, egotistic, and, thanks to Impacciatore’s ace comedic timing, totally fabulous.
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Howard sells his smug malice, digging into Matt in a way no one has before until the whole thing devolves into a physical fight.
    Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
  • In fact, Martineau’s sign angered plenty of Democrats, some of whom were already worried that smug liberal activists are harming the party.
    David Weigel, semafor.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • This doesn’t mean the United States should be complacent.
    Daniel R. DePetris, Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Chism won’t be taking his foot off the gas pedal or get complacent now that he’s made the team.
    Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • All but the most vainglorious architects imagine that their buildings will change in some small way after completion.
    Anthony Paletta, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The real real thing tended to be rather different: clumsy, ad hoc, vainglorious—and secret.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Self-flattering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-flattering. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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