selfhood

American  

[self-hood] / ˈsɛlf hʊd /

noun

1. the state of being an individual person; individuality.

2. one's personality.

3. selfishness.

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selfhood British  

/ ˈsɛlfhʊd /

noun

1. philosophy

   1. the state of having a distinct identity

   2. the individuality so possessed

2. a person's character

3. the quality of being egocentric

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Etymology

Origin of selfhood

First recorded in 1640–50; self + -hood

Example Sentences

In Mr. Persico’s account, the Protestant Reformation completed the project that Genesis began, entrenching individual autonomy and selfhood in Western culture.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

In the face of so much frenzied curation and compulsory personal branding, how might a modern human maintain some iota of unshared selfhood, a soupçon of Greta Garbo mystique?

From New York Times • Mar. 9, 2024

And if she did slip in that fraught moment, the whole edifice of her selfhood, her life’s grand project, might well collapse.

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2024

Song, on the other hand, finds that the term “identity” carries an objectifying connotation, as it fails to fully describe a person’s layered selfhood.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2023

We catch this young girl at the dawn of her selfhood.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan