self-respect
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- self-respectful adjective
- self-respecting adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-respect
First recorded in 1605–15
Explanation
When you feel proud of yourself, you have self-respect. If you act in an unfair or unkind way toward someone else, you might lose your self-respect. Things that make you feel good about the kind of person you are are great for building self-respect. If you cheat on a test, you're likely to lose some of that self-respect, but you may be able to regain it by admitting what you did to your teacher and making amends. You can also use the words dignity or self-worth.
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.
She said Atkins' behaviour "totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem".
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026
And I don’t think that they understood self-respect because I don’t think they experienced it before.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025
In all of this, Mr. Easterly is firm in his belief that the way forward lies in a marriage of market economics and attention to self-respect.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
How do I keep my self-respect and continue to communicate with him?
From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025
Whatever self-respect he might have had was gone, he did not care if Kingshaw saw that he was afraid – he wanted him to know, in fact, he wanted to be protected.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
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.
