SELF-FLATTERING Synonyms: 127 Similar and Opposite Words

self-flattering

adjective

Definition of self-flattering

as in narcissistic

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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 Might there be a hint of something vain, or self-flattering in that charm? — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026 Sugimoto’s ecoformalism consists in challenging this self-flattering intuition. — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 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

Chris Evans strikes a fine balance in this film between totally narcissistic and insufferable and also weirdly relatable.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
Hence, Lister sees a Liverpudlian woman, Rimmer encounters a fussy hologram, and the narcissistic Cat gets to date, well, himself.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of narcissistic

Adjective

And developers need millions of hours of this footage, what the industry calls egocentric data — data gathered from the perspective of a human with a camera to train AI robots.

— Diaa Hadid, NPR, 14 Oct. 2026
Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof.

— Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of egocentric

Adjective

Their steep verticality is somehow threatening, in hubristic competition with the crucifix behind them, a tension further heightened by a red laser target moving across the wall (part of a work by Šejla Kamerić).

— Kristian Vistrup Madsen, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
Is that the kind of hubristic myth-of-genius move that often drives proxy firms and large shareholders crazy?

— Diane Brady, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of hubristic

Adjective

Played by Jesse Eisenberg, Zuckerberg is dramatized as a conceited, socially awkward college student who repeatedly burns allies in pursuit of power.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, Johnson reprises his role as Moana's bantering reluctant partner, the shapeshifting trickster demigod Maui, alongside Jemaine Clement again voicing the conceited giant crustacean Tamatoa.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 July 2026

Definition of conceited

Adjective

From 2005 to 2014, former The Daily Show alum played a larger-than-life, egotistical caricature of himself for Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.

— Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 28 Oct. 2026
Through remarkable archival footage and an incredible range of interviews, Monsters of God digs into the egotistical and ruthless mentalities that supported competing criminal empires and the undercover operations that dismantled them.

— Rory Doherty, Time, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of egotistic

Adjective

The typically smug host appeared upset earlier this year at the Golden Globes when presenter Wanda Sykes roasted him and another nominee up for best performance in stand-up comedy on television, Ricky Gervais.

— Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Here was my chance to get out of London, this counterfeit of death with its everywhere rage and its moribund culture and its smug population and its streets steeped in resentment and the sky pressing down like a chloroform rag.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of smug

Adjective

The same tools that help spot threats faster may also be creating new risks, and recent high-profile hacks underscore the fact that companies can’t be complacent.

— HBR Editors, Harvard Business Review, 30 Oct. 2026
And, like all such acts of mass enshittification, it was made possible by the fact that the system it was meant to supplant had grown complacent.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of complacent

Browse Nearby Words

self-flagellation

self-flattering

self-forgetful

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“Self-flattering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-flattering. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of self-flattering

adjective

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