ourselves

American  

[ahr-selvz, ou^uhr-, ou-er-] / ɑrˈsɛlvz, aʊər-, ˌaʊ ər- /

pronoun

1. a reflexive form of we (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the direct object of a preposition).

   We are deceiving ourselves. Give us a moment to ourselves.

2. (used as an intensive withwe ).

   We ourselves would never say such a thing.

3. Informal. (used in place of we or us, especially in compound subjects, objects, and complements).

   The children and ourselves thank you kindly. When it satisfies ourselves, it will be ready to market. The ones who really want the new system are the manager and ourselves.

4. (used in place of we or us after as, than, orbut ).

   How many parents are as fortunate as ourselves? No one loves skiing more than ourselves. Nobody heard it but ourselves.

5. our customary, normal, or healthy selves.

   After a good rest, we're almost ourselves again.

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ourselves British  

/ aʊəˈsɛlvz /

pronoun

1. 1. the reflexive form of we or us

   2. (intensifier)

      we ourselves will finish it

2. (preceded by a copula) our usual selves

   we are ourselves when we're together

3. not_standard used instead of we or us in compound noun phrases

   other people and ourselves

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Usage

See myself.

Etymology

Origin of ourselves

1300–50; Middle English oure selven; see our, self, -en ⁴, -s ³

Example Sentences

She was very contemporaneous with Our Bodies Ourselves.

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026

Joan Didion fell in love with movies as a girl but would sour on Hollywood after working there, Alissa Wilkinson writes in ‘We Tell Ourselves Stories.’

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2025

From de Waal's 1982 book "Chimpanzee Politics" to 2019's "Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What they Tell Us about Ourselves," attitudes about whether animals might have thoughts worthy of scientific exploration changed dramatically.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2024

The idea was to educate women so they could advocate for themselves, and there was a lot of progress made with the publication of books like "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

From Salon • Sep. 17, 2023

Ourselves we have not had sufficient to eat for long enough.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque