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; our, self, -en ⁴, -s ³

Example Sentences

"We have had a hugely disappointing second half of the season and will not allow ourselves to be blinded by our league position," said Horst Heldt, Union's director of men's football.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

I live within the gravitational pull of New York City, and my property value is riding on the continued prosperity of these spreadsheet people, so let’s not pretend that we can spot cheap stocks ourselves.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

And Harrison and I took a minute and we walked away from the set and we started running the scene, walking up and down the busy street to kind of acclimate ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Assuming we are not religious—the author’s necessary caveat—then “we have ourselves put the authorities deep down inside us there.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

We won so many times we took ourselves out of the competition to give them young ones a chance.”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith