inner-directed

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inner-directed One is inner-directed, determined to build self-esteem. Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inner-directed
Adjective
  • There’s no egotistical rock star bullsh**t going on here.
    Quentin Thane Singer, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
  • This was my chance to not be an actor, not have that stink of being an actor, that egotistical, show-off, controlling, making choices, being clever part of being an actor.
    Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Related article How being a ‘gray rock’ can protect you against narcissists Now, a new study has found grandiose narcissists are not only more likely to feel ostracized but are also genuinely excluded more often than those with less egocentric personalities.
    Julianna Bragg, CNN, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Lanzmann, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 92, was a brilliant journalist, writer and filmmaker known for being highly confrontational, as well as highly egocentric.
    Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Studying thousands of participants through a series of surveys and experiments, a team of researchers recently investigated the narcissistic experience of exclusion.
    Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2025
  • While some narcissistic cops may think having the whole department to themselves is a license to run wild, Lou is sick of it.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Just his demeanor, the way he was still connected with us, not really playing selfish in any way.
    Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Raq is a master manipulator who claims to value loyalty above all else, especially from her henchmen brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou (Malcolm Mays) and her only son, yet constantly destabilizes the three of them with selfish mind games and power plays that genuinely harm them.
    Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The dissolution of the Family is seen as a sad, painfully slow affair, as, like Brian Wilson before him, Stone drifted off into his own solipsistic world of experimentation.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Needless to say, this particular motive is not mentioned in Biden’s solipsistic and self-pitying statement.
    Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • There’s plenty such wordplay in The Safe House, to the point that the movie can seem like a caricature of overeducated, perpetually growling Parisians shouting for social change, but too self-centered and comfortable in their bourgeois lifestyles to do anything drastic about it.
    Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Sitting on the sidelines and labeling someone else as self-centered is easy.
    Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • But Shirley MacLaine takes things to a whole other level when Aurora — who audiences could be forgiven for initially dismissing as a vapid and self-absorbed mom — takes our heartstrings and refuses to let go.
    EW Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025
  • There's no market for a self-absorbed, past his prime, locker room cancer?
    Dianna Russini, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Not just for this reason, but also due to the fact she’s been so self-involved the past year.
    Erin Clack, People.com, 2 Feb. 2025
  • A little self-involved, but the check clears either way.
    Bethy Squires, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Inner-directed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inner-directed. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

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