as in natures
the set of qualities that makes a person, a group of people, or a thing different from others
some believe that it's only in times of great stress that a person's true self is revealed
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Recent Examples of selves
The sequence left us pondering our pet cats and, for good measure, our worst selves.
—
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 May 2026
Whatever the reason, the rest of the day, ghosts of my former selves appeared around every sandy corner.
—Literary Hub, 7 May 2026
So much so that Walsh has written about spirituality, manifestation, and the shadow—Carl Jung’s concept that acknowledges the hidden aspects of ourselves that our conscious selves don’t always recognize.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 7 May 2026
This year’s Red Sox are a more extreme version of their previous selves.
—Gabrielle Starr, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
But for the first three games, the Knicks looked like their regular-season selves — struggling to fully integrate Towns into the offense.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026
Players did that from the first day, seamlessly providing a professional, healthy environment where everyone was encouraged to bring their best selves.
—Pj Green
april 30, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
Rotterdam is what happens when a city in the midst of transformation adapts to change without losing any reverence for its former selves.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 23 Apr. 2026
This is our opportunity to show our real selves and be together.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2026
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 May 2026
Whatever the reason, the rest of the day, ghosts of my former selves appeared around every sandy corner.
—Literary Hub, 7 May 2026
So much so that Walsh has written about spirituality, manifestation, and the shadow—Carl Jung’s concept that acknowledges the hidden aspects of ourselves that our conscious selves don’t always recognize.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 7 May 2026
This year’s Red Sox are a more extreme version of their previous selves.
—Gabrielle Starr, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
But for the first three games, the Knicks looked like their regular-season selves — struggling to fully integrate Towns into the offense.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026
Players did that from the first day, seamlessly providing a professional, healthy environment where everyone was encouraged to bring their best selves.
—Pj Green
april 30, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
Rotterdam is what happens when a city in the midst of transformation adapts to change without losing any reverence for its former selves.
—Bailey Berg, Architectural Digest, 23 Apr. 2026
This is our opportunity to show our real selves and be together.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for selves
Noun
-
These observations suggest that small, mysterious moons with surprisingly different natures are the source of the particles that make up the two outermost rings, and that there are probably even more undiscovered moons to add to the 29 already known around Uranus.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
22 Apr. 2026
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Last month, a Los Angeles jury found social media giants Meta and Google failed to warn children about the addictive natures of their platforms.—
Drew Aunkst,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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While challenges to Putin’s rule are still few and far between, the discontent in Russian society — from online personalities with large social media followings to normally robotic-like supporters in the Russian political system — is beginning to bubble up.—
Daniel DePetris,
Twin Cities,
15 May 2026
-
Their personas were their personalities.—
Lily Moayeri,
SPIN,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
For example, cedar and redwood create a stunning visual appeal with their warm red and orange tones.—
Tessa Cooper,
The Spruce,
13 May 2026
-
The dulcet tones of that thick Irish accent are perfectly intelligible over the phone, THR puts to him.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
Similar to Chinese citizen ID numbers, each robot will receive a unique identification code with 11 additional characters.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
15 May 2026
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Plopsaland Belgium Worlds of fun for the younger set await in this theme park centered around the characters from Studio 100, a Belgian media company that creates children’s television programs.—
Zachary Laks,
Travel + Leisure,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Selves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/selves. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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