itself
Americanpronoun
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a reflexive form of it.
The battery recharges itself.
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an emphatic appositive of it, which, that, this, or a noun.
which itself is also true; Even without flowers, the bowl itself is beautiful.
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(used as the object of a preposition or as the direct or indirect object of a verb).
The chameleon's ability to change color is a protection for itself.
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its normal or customary self.
After much tender care, the puppy was soon itself again.
pronoun
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the reflexive form of it 1
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(intensifier)
even the money itself won't convince me
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(preceded by a copula) its normal or usual self
my cat isn't itself today
Usage
See myself.
Etymology
Origin of itself
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hit self. See it 1, self
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.
The session itself had centered on how institutions become trapped by assumptions they no longer even recognize as assumptions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
“We can’t just unplug it because it could be copying itself over to other computers,” he told CBS News.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Sometimes the existence of a newspaper story is as interesting as the story itself.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
The debate itself was tetchier, more irritable than when Kim Leadbeater introduced a similar bill in 2024.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Our job was not in itself complicated: Answer the line, match the code name to a number, insert the right plug into the right jack, connect the telephone call.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
