self-important
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-important
First recorded in 1765–75
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.
All this will be to your tastes or not, but credit Mr. McInerney with not being self-important about his material.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
“Spinal Tap” sent-up self-important band documentaries like “The Last Waltz”; “The Sure Thing” attempted to liberate the teen sex comedy from raunchy “Porky’s”-style copycats.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025
There are plenty of scrappy indie thrillers and international chillers that can pick up the slack outside of the glitzy domestic market, where Hollywood horror often gets lost in its own self-important sauce.
From Salon • Oct. 23, 2025
Pompous and self-important, it sounded as if the newspaper was really trying to say Without the Washington Post, we’re all screwed.
From Slate • Mar. 1, 2025
Now, grandchildren, when I say we were proud I do not mean that we became self-important.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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.
