as in identity
the set of qualities that make a person different from other people
he spent a year in a monastery determining the core of his selfhood
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of selfhood
In their world, which is also ours, selfhood has degraded into taste, preferences, demography, and outlays of attention and money.
—
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Whether your child is looking to invest in sustainability or clothing items from yesteryear, brands are answering the call with products that cater to a growing desire for selfhood and identity.
—Kristin Braswell, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2025
Concepts like zero, karma, ahimsa, non-duality, and moksha shaped not just her identity but how the world understands selfhood, suffering, time, and truth.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
This intimate portrait offers rare access to a vanishing nomadic circus community, tracing seven years in the life of a young man caught between tradition and selfhood.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selfhood
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Whether your child is looking to invest in sustainability or clothing items from yesteryear, brands are answering the call with products that cater to a growing desire for selfhood and identity.
—Kristin Braswell, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2025
Concepts like zero, karma, ahimsa, non-duality, and moksha shaped not just her identity but how the world understands selfhood, suffering, time, and truth.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
This intimate portrait offers rare access to a vanishing nomadic circus community, tracing seven years in the life of a young man caught between tradition and selfhood.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selfhood
Recent Examples of Synonyms for selfhood
Noun
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Both papers hurried to make the most of this dramatic event, no matter how little reporters actually knew about the identity of the gunman or his motives for shooting four people.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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But to help root out the fraud, many community colleges have turned to a growing marketplace of identity verification software vendors.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This week's quiz highlights tourist tradeoffs, political personalities — and a whole lot more.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
1 Feb. 2026
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The program trains officers to recognize certain personality types and provides techniques for de-escalation without physical conflict.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Selfhood.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/selfhood. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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