selfie

American  

[sel-fee] / ˈsɛl fi /

noun

Informal.

• selfies
  plural

1. a photograph taken with a smartphone or other digital camera by a person who is also in the photograph, especially for posting on a social media website.

   celebrities sharing selfies on Twitter.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• selfies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of selfie

First recorded in 2000–05; self + -ie

Explanation

If you flip your cellphone around to take a photo of yourself, you'll end up with a selfie. When you visit Paris, don't forget to take a selfie at night with the Eiffel Tower in the background! Selfie is a true 21st-century word, coined around 2002 in Australia. This type of slang word formation — known as a hypocorism, or nickname — is incredibly popular in that country, where a mosquito is a mozzie and a present is a prezzie. By 2013, using cellphones to snap casual self-portraits was so common that the Oxford English Dictionary named selfie its word of the year.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

selfie selfies

Eatherly switched the selfie stick to his left hand and put his right hand in his jacket pocket.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

The newfound attention was prompted by a fan bumping into him at a L.A. grocery store and sharing a selfie with the actor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Just last week, the actress shared a mirror selfie in which she could be seen showing off her growing baby bump, pulling up her black shirt to flaunt her stomach, while grimacing at the camera.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

A few months after the premiere, Holland marked Zendaya's birthday by posting a selfie from the set, alongside the caption: "My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

The picture, almost like a selfie of Frank, only, the point wasn’t ever to capture his smile, it was to capture his Byrd and his Axel in the place he loved most of all.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Alcaraz should make those influencer selfies slightly more worthwhile, even if a three-figure grounds pass won’t get you near his matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Many were taking selfies with a three-metre-tall Unitree GD01, a towering rideable robot the firm says can switch between bi- and quadruped settings.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

After snapping several selfies with Wong-Young, Ramirez added that some of his favorite memories of the diner were of seeing Wong-Young grow up and help her parents with the restaurant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Following another 10-hour private flight to Hong Kong, the squad stayed at the Kerry Hotel, where local fans regularly gathered in the hope of securing selfies and autographs.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

She picks up her phone with one hand, a Yale brochure in the other, and snaps some “applying to college” selfies.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish