Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Excessive preoccupation with or admiration of oneself. synonym: conceit.
  • noun A personality disorder characterized by self-preoccupation, need for admiration, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.
  • noun Erotic pleasure derived from contemplation or admiration of one's own body or self, especially as a fixation on or a regression to an infantile stage of development.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An exceptional interest in and admiration for oneself.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Excessive love of oneself.
  • noun Sexual desire for one's own body.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Narcissus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

After Narcissus, a character in Greek mythology who became obsessed with his own reflection.

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Examples

  • The term narcissism is defined as excessive love or admiration of oneself or a psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.

    Darren Littlejohn: The 12 Steps: An Antidote For Celebrities And Other Narcissistic Addicts 2009

  • But the reality is that celebrities have more personality issues around what we call the narcissism than the average person, they have more addiction than the average person and we were interested in really showing what happens to somebody like Britney Spears behind the scenes when they actually are treated.

    CNN Transcript Jan 4, 2008 2008

  • By definition, narcissism is "excessive self-love" and stems from a mythical youth who fell in love with his own reflection.

    Narcissism can make politicians leaders ... and cheaters 2009

  • Twenge, co-author with Campbell of the new book The Narcissism Epidemic, suggests there is a connection between an increase in narcissism in society and wanting baby names that are less common.

    All the rage in baby names: What's unusual 2009

  • Logo apes Bravo's Housewives bottom-feeders with the all-male The A-List: New York, where bitchy name-dropping narcissism is magnified by a desperate desire to play to the camera.

    Matt's TV Week in Review 2010

  • "In common parlance, narcissism is often used as a synonym for egomania or excessive self-regard," say Drew Pinsky and S. Mark Young in The Mirror Effect.

    Celebrity narcissism: A bad reflection for kids 2009

  • This belief and teachings (which by the way is referenced somehow to Hilter by the Family's leader), 'allows' them to wallow in narcissism and self righteousness.

    Poll: Only 3 in 10 have favorable opinion of Ensign 2009

  • WAKE UP ... your narcissism is without equal ... and, obviously, you and your campaign don't give a s*t about the party or this country.

    Vilsack says it's over 2008

  • Political narcissism is a bad thing, not just for you, not just for the Democratic Party, but for the U.S.A.

    Clinton cites Karl Rove as reason to stay in 2008

  • Often it looks to me like cultural narcissism is prevalent no matter where your viewing point may be.

    America The Stupid 2008

Comments

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  • This word should be allowed to list itself.

    August 3, 2008

  • "Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back-alley sex-change surgeon to become the woman he loved."

    --from "First Line of Bad Novels"

    November 15, 2008

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    January 18, 2012

  • "Of course, I am glad to be able to correct my fears as far as public balls, concerts, and time-murder in narcissism." -an 1822 letter

    Coleridge was the first to use the Greek myth to describe real-world egomania.

    March 5, 2018