egomania
Americannoun
noun
-
obsessive love for oneself and regard for one's own needs
-
any action dictated by this point of view
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of egomania
First recorded in 1815–25; ego + -mania; modeled on monomania
Explanation
If you have an obsessive, intense love for yourself, you might have egomania. People who are diagnosed with egomania always put their own needs above those of others. Simply being vain or slightly self-absorbed isn't true egomania. People who actually suffer from egomania are out of touch with reality, having delusions of their own power and greatness, and often believe they're being persecuted or are terribly unappreciated by other people. The early 19th century word combines ego, "the self," or in Latin, I, with mania, "mental derangement," and in Greek "madness, passion, or fury."
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.
But what kept Marnie from being completely insufferable is that, for all of her bouts of egomania, she was still self-aware enough to know when she was being obnoxious.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2025
Those could be dismissed as stemming from laziness, egomania, or a cavalier relationship to legal rules and ethics.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
As a sometime fan of Cruise’s egomania, at least when he’s dangling from a helicopter or literally running to catch a plane, I’m not really complaining.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2022
He referred to them as “unmasked egomania orgies” and said that most people might think twice about putting on these events right now but “most of the time he doesn’t even think once”.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 15, 2020
She clasped her hands together and adopted a pose in caricature of the play heroine in an ecstasy of egomania.
From Who Cares? a story of adolescence by Cosmo Hamilton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
