self-parody

noun

self-par·​o·​dy ˌself-ˈper-ə-dē How to pronounce self-parody (audio)
-ˈpa-rə-
plural self-parodies
: representation of oneself or itself that has the character or appearance of a parody
Detractors accused him … of relying on a sneaky humor and swagger that approached self-parody.New York Times
… the lack of ideological diversity on campuses is a disservice to the students and to liberalism itself, with liberalism collapsing on some campuses into self-parody.Nicholas Kristof
self-parodist noun
plural self-parodists
Artists seem to have more of a sense of humor about themselves today than they did 10 or 20 years ago. Eminem is practically a self-parodist. Mikael Wood

Examples of self-parody in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In turn, Berg says, expressing negative attitudes about children and child-rearing has become a self-parody. Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024 This kind of tender sentimentality isn’t par for the course with Hong, a filmmaker whose essential feature template may be close to self-parody in its consistency, but allows for a fluid, ever-expanding spectrum of moods, feelings and foibles. Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024 When done right, such biting self-parody can serve to excuse tired storytelling. Peter Debruge, Variety, 8 Aug. 2024 By then his youthful innocence was long gone and the decline into boorishness and self-parody well advanced. The Week Uk, theweek, 26 July 2024 And to further entice you, there’s plenty of humor to be found in this sly Disney self-parody. Kara Nesvig, Parents, 16 July 2024 To the point where the genre itself has become sort of self-parody. Patrick Frater, Variety, 27 Mar. 2024 Though The Daily Show was meant to be a parody of cable news, over Stewart’s tenure the actual versions began to feel so much like self-parody that many younger viewers began treating Stewart as their primary news source. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2024 But there is just enough humor, and just enough puncturing of the intense personae adopted by the two leads, for the show to avoid the relentless commitment to grimness that had even the best stretches of the Pizzolatto years verging on self-parody. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-parody.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-parody was in 1840

Dictionary Entries Near self-parody

Cite this Entry

“Self-parody.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-parody. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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