ourselves

[ ahr-selvz, ouuhr-, ou-er- ]

See synonyms for ourselves on Thesaurus.com

plural pronoun

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.
(used as an intensive with we): We ourselves would never say such a thing.

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.
(used in place of we or us after as, than, or but): How many parents are as fortunate as ourselves? No one loves skiing more than ourselves. Nobody heard it but ourselves.
our customary, normal, or healthy selves: After a good rest, we're almost ourselves again.

Origin of ourselves

1300–50; Middle English oure selven;see our, self, -en⁴, -s³

usage note For ourselves

See myself.

Words Nearby ourselves

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ourselves in a sentence

We did ThunderAnt stuff for ourselves and just put it online, and then it blossomed into something else.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
But we are afraid and we wonder to ourselves who will be next.
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder | Jason McGahan | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
What could be more important, to make sure that side of things is right before we tie ourselves to someone forever?
‘Downton Abbey’ Review: A Fire, Some Sex, and Sad, Sad Edith | Kevin Fallon | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Expectations, reasonable or unrealistic, remain so even if we impose them on ourselves.
Why Singles Should Say ‘I Don’t’ to The Self-Marriage Movement | Tim Teeman | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Should we cancel gatherings, reunions, excursions, or throw ourselves into them with even more gratitude for one another?
The Media's Pro-Torture Cheerleaders | Jedediah Purdy | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

It was in the college stage that most of us made out our religion and made it real for ourselves.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Calkilate we should do ourselves more harm than him by shooting down his people.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV. | Various
We won't want much more ourselves, for we are nearly at our last landing place.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard Barnum
That will give us time to turn about us, and to prepare ourselves against similar unpleasant casualties.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV. | Various
Oh, but surely if we have to call ourselves Wurzel-Flummery it would count as earned income.
First Plays | A. A. Milne

British Dictionary definitions for ourselves

ourselves

/ (aʊəˈsɛlvz) /

pronoun

- the reflexive form of we or us
- (intensifier): we ourselves will finish it
(preceded by a copula) our usual selves: we are ourselves when we're together

not standard used instead of we or us in compound noun phrases: other people and ourselves

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse