noun / pronoun
self
SELF/self/
A person's own being or identity.
The man confronts his own self in the quiet reflection.
Etymology
Old English self emphasized one's own person or sameness. Its noun use came to describe a person considered in relation to that same person, connecting it with individual identity.
In context
once that self disappears, or the illusion of it just kind of ceases or something, that well, there s nothing to seek, there s no seeker, which is all true.
More examples
- The move shakes his sense of self.
- After a good night's sleep, I feel like my old self.
- Their public selves differ from who they are at home.
Forms
self · selves
selfhood noun — The state of having an individual identity.
Similar words
- identity
- Emphasizes who someone is, including personal traits and background.
- individuality
- Emphasizes the qualities that make someone different from others.