narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsi-zəm 
1
: egoism, egocentrism
… up until my late 30's I lived in a state of utterly monstrous narcissism and self-absorption …—
Frank Conroy
Frank Conroy2
: narcissistic personality disorder
One of the premier diagnoses of our times, narcissism is a reflection not only of an apparent trend in mental illness but also of the strains and distortions in the lives of essentially healthy people.—Robert Karen
Robert Karen3
: love of or sexual desire of one's own body
Examples of narcissism in a Sentence
in his narcissism, he just assumed that everyone else wanted to hear the tiny details of his day
Recent Examples on the Web
Worse yet, the researchers found that AI brain rot brought out an LLM’s darkest traits, including higher rates of psychopathy and narcissism.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
Soon, the deputy commissioner was asking me about narcissism and criminal thinking.
—Joe Garcia, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
The ’60s stood on the fault line between the culture of peace and love and what would become the culture of narcissism.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
In his nitpicking and narcissism, the relatability of his grievances and his unhinged methods of redressing them, Ron also resembles a younger, Middle American version of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm antihero.
—Judy Berman, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
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Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
Soon, the deputy commissioner was asking me about narcissism and criminal thinking.
—Joe Garcia, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
The ’60s stood on the fault line between the culture of peace and love and what would become the culture of narcissism.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
In his nitpicking and narcissism, the relatability of his grievances and his unhinged methods of redressing them, Ron also resembles a younger, Middle American version of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm antihero.
—Judy Berman, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for narcissism
Cite this Entry
“Narcissism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcissism. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsiz-əm
: excessive love and admiration for oneself and especially one's own appearance
Medical Definition
narcissism
noun
nar·cis·sism
ˈnär-sə-ˌsiz-əm
2
: love of or sexual desire for one's own body
3
: the state or stage of development in psychoanalytic theory in which there is considerable erotic interest in one's own body and ego and which in abnormal forms persists through fixation or reappears through regression
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