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Glite Dictionary
ourself

ourself

20 9.9
A formal old way a king or other official uses to call themselves 'we'
  • pronoun
  • Archaic
: nosotros mismos
  • As a queen, she often had to remind ourself of the responsibilities of her position.

When we tell ourself positive things, we're controlling this, right?

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Examples

  • We cannot subject ourself to the will and whim of people who push into our house, take what they want, leave when they please.

    Tin Soldier (2025)

  • How the hell did we find ourself in second place in a two-man race?

    Hidden Figures (2016)

  • So we want to ask ourself, what does that mean?

  • Now... before we got ahead of ourself, we have to tell you something.

    Love (2011)

  • If we will take and sit down with a pen and ask ourself, what do I really want?

    Evan Carmichael

  • That some stuff we should just keep to ourself.

    Big Momma's House (2000)

  • We can do this ourself.

    My Own Private Idaho (1991)

  • When we tell ourself positive things, we're controlling this, right?

    Apollonia Ponti

  • We started calling ourself the Bean Bag Boys.

    Good Boys (2019)

  • But I promise you, if we find ourself a little something fierce, I'll get us the hell out of there, okay?

    Bloodsuckers (2005)

Surface Forms

ourself reflexive

Morphology

ourself = our + self (transparent) = our + self

Morphologically a straightforward combination of the possessive determiner 'our' and 'self' to form a reflexive, so learners knowing the parts can infer the meaning; the form is archaic/formal but composition is clear.

Etymology

Ourself comes from two simple parts, our and self, which together mean 'our own person', and it was used in old formal speech when a king or queen spoke as 'we'. So, when you see ourself in old or legal texts, it is a formal or royal way of saying 'ourselves'.