self-parody

noun

self-par·​o·​dy ˌself-ˈper-ə-dē 

-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

ˌself-ˈper-ə-dist 

-ˈpa-rə-

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

All that is wound up here, along with a welcome dose of self-parody, in what plays like a career-spanning super-cut. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Feb. 2025

As the seasons wore on, PSG’s upstart charm curdled into bloated self-parody. —Jack Lang, The Athletic, 18 Jan. 2025

The first half delivers a gritty crime thriller following a hitman caught between law enforcement and yakuza forces, while the second portion reimagines the same narrative through a comedic lens using self-parody techniques. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Jan. 2025

While the filmmaker could occasionally descend into self-parody, critics’ groups included his major pictures on lists of the most important movies of the past century. —Stephen Galloway, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2025

Four years later, following her Curb Your Enthusiasm self-parody comeback episode earlier this year, Loughlin now stars as the brusque Lieutenant Bishop in On Call, marking her return to television in a recurring role. —Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2024

As its ten-season run wore on, the show would more openly embrace comic book characters and ideas, becoming a bit of a self-parody in its efforts to put off Clark’s transformation into Superman, which would only happen in the show’s final moments. —Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-parody

• parody