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  1. alter ego love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Another side of oneself; a second self.
  2. n. An intimate friend or a constant companion.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Second self; another self; counterpart; double. Sometimes applied as a title to a person who has full powers to act for another, as in the case of a Spanish viceroy when exercising regal power.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Somebody's alternate personality or persona; another self.
  2. n. A very close and intimate friend.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a very close and trusted friend who seems almost a part of yourself

Etymologies

  1. From Latin "other self", which is a translation of Zeno's Citium "allos ego" (Wiktionary)
  2. Latin : alter, other + ego, I, self. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “His alter ego was Delaroche, to whom he gave his daughter in marriage.”

    Balzac

  • “Evan Huter and his alter ego Ed McBain combined their talents to create Candyland, a novel in two parts, available from Pocket Books.”

    Simon & Schuster: The Chisholms

  • “I sense that perhaps Wooden Boulder has become an alter ego for Nash: its unfolding story part of his life, the restless thing itself an embodiment of his soul.”

    Simon & Schuster: Wildwood

  • “My alter ego Demoness Mentia is doing that, and keeping an eye on my seven-year-old son, Ted.”

    Cube Route

  • “Even back when I was nominally happy, my friend Bryce actually went so far as to create a superhero alter ego for me: The Amazing Sublimated Man.”

    Simon & Schuster: Miss Misery

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. idem
  1. alter

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. friend

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. latin

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Lists

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Comments

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  • reesetee HA! A saggy SoG! Jan 7, 2008

  • sonofgroucho I abhor disguises....

    The Fly Jan 5, 2008

  • skipvia Plus, glasses?! That's a disguise? Wouldn't somebody notice? Oct 23, 2007

  • uselessness But why Clark Kent? I mean, I'd at least be Donald Trump or somebody. Now Batman, there's a super with panache! Oct 23, 2007

  • chained_bear Yeah, but maybe he just fantasizes about being a regular guy. I mean, it's weird, but then again, he's from another planet and weird in many ways. Oct 23, 2007

  • skipvia You could alter your super metabolism so that you'd never even get tired! Oct 23, 2007

  • chained_bear It's probably too much work being Superman ALL the time. Wouldn't you think so? Oct 23, 2007

  • skipvia That part of a superhero that his/her arch enemy or arch nemesis can never discover, lest...lest... Come to think of it, why not drop the Clark Kent thing and just be Superman? If you could be Superman all the time or swap time between a guy that can see through walls and a wimpy reporter, which would you choose? Oct 23, 2007

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‘alter ego’ has been looked up 1587 times, loved by 2 people, added to 9 lists, commented on 8 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.