self-referential
Americanadjective
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.
The resulting album, titled Music, Fashion, Film, is smart, self-referential, funny, antagonistic and crammed full of moments to stimulate your inner earworm.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The self-aware opening titles, which are altered with every episode, blatantly urge viewers to not hit the “skip intro” button and offers self-referential messages about the show and the experience of watching it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
His Truth Social posts are more self-referential and egomaniacal: in 2026, half of his posts have used first-person pronouns — sometimes more than 12 times in a single post.
From Salon ● May 26, 2026
“Few contemporary writers have shown themselves to be quite as self-referential as Roth,” Mr. Zipperstein writes, “and few self-referential writers have managed, for so very long, to be quite so cagey.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
They were all the things he tried not to be, showy and self-referential.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
