selfhood

noun

self·​hood ˈself-ˌhu̇d How to pronounce selfhood (audio)
1
2
: the quality or state of being selfish

Examples of selfhood in a Sentence

he spent a year in a monastery determining the core of his selfhood
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Mark’s dilemma frames a superlative new season that probes the nature of selfhood, death, and most of all love. Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025 Russell creates work spans art, gender, race, and technology, with a focus on the intersections of cyberculture and digital selfhood. Okla Jones, Essence, 6 Dec. 2024 The setup risks absurdity—the cast (which includes Nathan) essentially wears gorilla suits—but the premise is developed with meticulous and quasi-biological specificity, anthropological rigor, and imaginative speculation about the creatures’ emotions and senses of selfhood. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2024 His characters are so recognizably, painfully millennial because their selfhood is so obviously mediated by the Internet; their instincts are inextricable from their upbringing in an online ecosystem that seizes every individual’s desires and vulnerabilities as fodder for profit and exploitation. Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for selfhood 

Word History

First Known Use

1568, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of selfhood was in 1568

Dictionary Entries Near selfhood

Cite this Entry

“Selfhood.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selfhood. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

selfhood

noun
self·​hood ˈself-ˌhu̇d How to pronounce selfhood (audio)

More from Merriam-Webster on selfhood

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!