self-portrait

American  

[self-pawr-trit, -trayt, -pohr-, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈpɔr trɪt, -treɪt, -ˈpoʊr-, ˈsɛlf- /

noun

• self-portraits
  plural

1. a portrait of oneself done by oneself.

---

self-portrait British  

noun

1. a portrait one draws or paints of oneself

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• self-portraits
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of self-portrait

First recorded in 1830–40

---

Explanation

If you draw a picture of yourself, it's a self-portrait. Vincent van Gogh was well-known for his many self-portraits, painting more than 40 of them over the course of a few years. Whenever an artist creates a portrait of herself, whatever medium she uses, the result is a self-portrait. A six year-old can draw a self-portrait in crayon, and a famous sculptor can sculpt one out of clay. In the mid-15th century, Early Renaissance painters were the first to focus on creating deliberate self-portraits; this was probably due partly to the fact that mirrors had just recently become affordable and fairly easy to find.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-portrait self-portraits

Chuck Close crafted a spectral self-portrait that almost appears like you’re looking at it through 3-D glasses, so convincing is its illusion of depth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

His idea was to first take a meta self-portrait while photographing one of his celebrity friends, which turned into a full-fledged portfolio featuring nearly 20 L.A. people — artists, actors, musicians, chefs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

The final sections of the research consider whether modern descendants share physical similarities with Leonardo's famous self-portrait.

From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026

“I was 20 or 21 then. I’d had a psychotic episode and was taken to a public hospital in Massachusetts,” says Palm Springs-based artist Lisa McCord of the self-portrait she later staged.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026

Maybe he wants his poem to look as good as his self-portrait.

From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes

Finally, the soul of a city resides in individuals, so “Flashback” concludes with a series of portraits and self-portraits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

His earlier, smaller self-portraits, by comparison, are remarkable and immediate but more exploratory, using his own image as a means of probing the possibilities of paint.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Kahlo painted dozens of self-portraits, many relating to the excruciating physical pain she continued to suffer as the result of a childhood accident.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Sharabi — who is Yemeni American and lives between Egypt and Virginia — created large-scale, conceptual self-portraits that she manipulated in the printing process.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026

He stays inside, working in his asylum studio painting self-portraits and touching up older canvases.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---