ourselves
Americanpronoun
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a reflexive form of we (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the direct object of a preposition).
We are deceiving ourselves. Give us a moment to ourselves.
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(used as an intensive withwe ).
We ourselves would never say such a thing.
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Informal. (used in place of we or us, especially in compound subjects, objects, and complements).
The children and ourselves thank you kindly. When it satisfies ourselves, it will be ready to market. The ones who really want the new system are the manager and ourselves.
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(used in place of we or us after as, than, orbut ).
How many parents are as fortunate as ourselves? No one loves skiing more than ourselves. Nobody heard it but ourselves.
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our customary, normal, or healthy selves.
After a good rest, we're almost ourselves again.
pronoun
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the reflexive form of we or us
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(intensifier)
we ourselves will finish it
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(preceded by a copula) our usual selves
we are ourselves when we're together
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not_standard used instead of we or us in compound noun phrases
other people and ourselves
Usage
See myself.
Etymology
Origin of ourselves
1300–50; Middle English oure selven; see our, self, -en 4, -s 3
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.
“This is where we find ourselves today: funding as a downstream consequence—a self-fulfilling prophecy among us VCs for VCs—of the trillion-dollar pink elephant everyone is chasing,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
"There's comedy there, and if we just stay miserable about it, we just make ourselves worse," he told AFP on the red carpet at the premiere in the Canadian city.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Whatever sense of invulnerability America may have had as the world’s only superpower was shattered, and it precipitated massive changes in the way we lived, traveled and perceived ourselves.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
The adults would engage in animated conversation, usually about current events, while we, the dozen or so kids, kept ourselves busy inventing games.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
We just say and do normal “get ready” stuff, all the while asking ourselves, Is this for real?
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
