ego
/ˈiːɡəʊ
/ /ˈɛːɡəʊ/noun (plural egos)
1A person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance: he needed a boost to his ego...
- If I do get all of that done and sorted out properly my meetings tend to go very well, and that's a big big boost to my ego.
- Your natural reactions to circumstances encourage success and the healthy growth of your ego and self-esteem.
- It is very flattering and a big boost to the ego to receive compliments from someone like Stacey Jones.
Synonyms
self-esteem, self-importance, self-worth, self-respect, self-conceit, self-image, self-confidence;
French amour propre
1.1 Psychoanalysis The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity. Compare with id and superego.Jung also found that in practice both anima and animus act in dreams and in the imagination as mediators of the unconscious to the ego, so providing a means for inner as well as outer adaptation....
- The effects of a shift in identity from the ego to the inner self are dramatic and remarkable.
- Letting go of the ego, the persona, the rational mind is a central experience in mystical traditions.
1.2 Philosophy (In metaphysics) a conscious thinking subject.In this being the empirical ego has its origin, and through ethical conduct it returns to its source....
- According to Heidegger, a tendency to suicide is the ontological essence of human ego.
- This diacritically marked subject experiences splitting of the ego.
Derivatives
egoless
- With meditation we can create a clean thinking, peaceful, egoless mind which in turn creates a person whose mind, body and spirit are in balance, in complete harmony.
- He was unchanged even by this catastrophe - he remained as decent and egoless a man as I'd ever met.
- In person, seemingly egoless, his presence within the films is both hilarious and humane.
Origin
Early 19th century: from Latin, literally 'I'.
This is the Latin word for ‘I’. It came into English later than egotism (early 18th century) or egoism (late 18th century). I (Old English) goes back to the same Indo-European root.