SELF-IMPORTANT Synonyms: 114 Similar and Opposite Words

self-important

adjective

ˌself-im-ˈpȯr-tᵊnt

Definition of self-important

as in arrogant

having too high an opinion of oneself a self-important businessman who believed his schedule mattered more than anyone else's

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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-important Laugh-In’s producer always thought this won Nixon the election (producers can get a little self-important). — Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 18 Feb. 2026 This isn’t just one self-important critic’s opinion — Berry herself has talked about it. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2026 Looking elegant as ever, Huppert appears with script in hand, half-reading, half-reciting a long, self-important monologue, written by Rozek. — Peter Debruge, Variety, 8 Feb. 2026 And women who foreground themselves in any capacity are often perceived to be self-important drama queens, or narcissists. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for self-important

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-important

Adjective

Each of these decisions laid the groundwork for the war on Iran today, one that started without a clear strategy on the arrogant expectation of a quick victory.

— Alexander Langlois, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2026
The data center industry is only one face of an arrogant oligarchy that people believe now runs Congress, the courts, the White House, state legislatures and local governments.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of arrogant

Adjective

Historian Sandgruber describes how Alois Hitler wrote his 1895 letters in a deeply smug, anti-clerical manner that overestimated his abilities.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 2026
Li at times plays Cola with a smug impetuousness that belies her naivety about this world to a satisfying degree.

— Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 17 June 2026

Definition of smug

Adjective

Turns out America’s enthusiasm for itself has gone into a bit of a rut—more than 80% of Americans felt proud in 2010, but only 53% feel that way today.

— Jim Edwards, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
The New York Film Festival is proud to welcome back Cinephile for our fifth year of NYFF Trivia Night events during the festival at the EBM Amphitheater!

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of proud

Adjective

Claire’s elective death therefore remains a problematic choice for some viewers, an act of vainglorious selfishness from a woman who was never terribly nice to begin with.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2026
Melodramatic and vainglorious, moody and capricious, a fidgety, neurotic hypochondriac, Stalin was a bundle of appalling contradictions.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026

Definition of vainglorious

Adjective

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
Avoid Burying Praise in Negatives To avoid making children too conceited, parents might bury praise in the midst of negatives.

— Wayne Parker, Parents, 8 Mar. 2026

Definition of conceited

Adjective

Does little Arabella care about going to another stuffy awards dinner with her pompous dad?

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026

Definition of pompous

Adjective

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
Where some may see this behavior as vain or egotistical, others may perceive it as bold, self-assured and passionate.

— Mallorie Sullivan, USA Today, 20 July 2026

Definition of egotistic

Adjective

Hoult’s Gilderoy Lockhart a notoriously vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard well versed in Memory Charms who is recruited by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
They are expected to become wiser but not louder, visible but not vain, accomplished but not demanding, and well-preserved but not provocative.

— Debbie Millman, Time, 25 July 2026