self-importancen.
/ˌsɛlfᵻmˈpɔːt(ə)ns/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfᵻmˈpɔrtns/ A sense, esp. an exaggerated one, of one's own importance; behaviour or an attitude originating in or expressive of this; conceitedness, vanity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > self-importance > [noun]
importance1607
self-importance1727
self-consequence1753
consequence1791
consequentiality1820
consequentialness1828
prima donnaship1889
Pooh-Bahism1892
prima donnaism1931
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xli. 139 The hooting guest His self-importance thus exprest.
1779 Mirror No. 43. ⁋1 She found in him nothing of that self-importance which superior parts, or great cultivation of them, is apt to confer.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 298 The worthy burgher, in the plenitude of self-importance.
1872 J. L. Sanford Estimates Eng. Kings 331 The dignity of bearing in Charles..was sustained by a profound sense of self-importance and superiority.
1941 R. Aldington Life for Life's Sake ii. 26 ‘I've got a body, sir,’ said Saunders, beaming, and oozing with self-importance.
2010 Guardian (Nexis) 11 Dec. (Review section) 5 The natural sin of diarists is self-importance, for they presume that their lives are worth turning into a narrative.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1727