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
Here’s my top 10 favorite examples of show biz narcissism (at least on screen).
—Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
These images were created by blending the faces of real people who had scored very high or very low on traits like psychopathy, narcissism, or agreeableness.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
Validation, insecurity, ego, manipulation, narcissism, all these things that people told me, anger issues ...
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 8 May 2025
Kip Williams' clever one-woman show adapts the classic exploration of narcissism for the digital age.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for narcissism
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Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
These images were created by blending the faces of real people who had scored very high or very low on traits like psychopathy, narcissism, or agreeableness.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
Validation, insecurity, ego, manipulation, narcissism, all these things that people told me, anger issues ...
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 8 May 2025
Kip Williams' clever one-woman show adapts the classic exploration of narcissism for the digital age.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 28 Mar. 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 7 Jun. 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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