self-indulgent
Americanadjective
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indulging one's own desires, passions, whims, etc., especially without restraint.
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characterized by such indulgence.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-indulgent
First recorded in 1785–95
Explanation
Anything self-indulgent you do for yourself, without thinking about other people. Enjoy a self-indulgent day at the spa! But self-indulgent can also mean “selfish,” like a rambling self-indulgent speech that puts the audience to sleep. Eating whatever you feel like, even if it's ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is self-indulgent. Spending an entire day lying in a hammock when you have a project to work on for school is also self-indulgent. You just do what you feel like doing: in other words, you indulge yourself. Indulge, "to grant as an unearned favor," comes from the Latin indulgere, "be kind, yield, or concede."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That Europeans and Canadians resent being spoken to in this way is self-indulgent on our part.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
In that instance, the public were given the chance to choose the overall winner, opting for the term describing "unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy" behaviour.
From Barron's • Dec. 1, 2025
Isn’t this a “First World problem,” a form of privileged whining or a self-indulgent bid for tea and sympathy?
From Salon • Sep. 20, 2025
But he also became self-indulgent and self-isolating, assisted by a poorly paid helper, Isabel Lyon, who took over most aspects of his life, an arrangement that was a prescription for disaster.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025
Members of Abnegation don’t own many decorations, since they are viewed as self-indulgent, but what few things we were allowed, he has.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
