self-absorption

American  

[self-ab-sawrp-shuhn, -zawrp-, self-] / ˈsɛlf æbˈsɔrp ʃən, -ˈzɔrp-, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. preoccupation with oneself or one's own affairs, especially to the extent that other people and things go unnoticed.

   His self-absorption was ignored by his parents, who denied the possibility of its being symptomatic of autism.

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self-absorption British  

noun

1. preoccupation with oneself to the exclusion of others or the outside world

2. physics the process in which some of the radiation emitted by a material is absorbed by the material itself

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Etymology

Origin of self-absorption

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

A slate of songs by Charli XCX captures Catherine’s tragic self-absorption without seeming jarringly modern.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Having spent the last seven years in a state of self-absorption — or, as his ex-girlfriend Lucy later puts it: “You’ve just been up there pouting?” — his new quest is simply to atone.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025

As a result, her plaintive wooing merely heightens the self-absorption of her egotistical love object, Narcissus.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 8, 2023

Identifying behaviors that make us recoil, like self-absorption and obliviousness, requires an ironic amount of self-reflection.

From New York Times • Jun. 3, 2023

He could be generous and caring to a fault, but he had a darker side as well, characterized by monomania, impatience, and unwavering self-absorption, qualities that seemed to intensify through his college years.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• arrogance
• egotism
• narcissism
• self-confidence
• selfishness