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self-absorption

self-absorption

4 8.1
Being very interested only in your own thoughts and feelings and ignoring other people
  • noun
  • /ˌsɛlf əbˈsɔrpʃən/
translation icon : autoabsorción
  • His self-absorption made it difficult for him to empathize with anyone else's problems.

Examples

  • The incipient poet speaks with the self-absorption that characterizes the adolescent psyche.

    Academic text (2001)
  • One was the understandable self-absorption of Americans and their leaders after September 11.

    Academic text (2008)
  • It's hard enough for them to deal with their own self-absorption.

    Academic text (2005)
  • In my case, self-absorption is completely justified.

  • If you forgot about her self-absorption and just listened to her, you could really have a good laugh.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Instead, boarding schools need to challenge the self-absorption and career predilections of their students.

    Academic text (1996)
  • But their moodiness and self-absorption can be infectious, too.

    Academic text (2005)
  • A psychologist might well discern a certain self-absorption in her attitude toward the first birth.

    Academic text (1994)
  • There's an unparalleled self absorption at the heart of Milton's writing.

  • New Age gangsters: Mason sensed a sucking emptiness in them, the void that comes of total self-absorption.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

egotism
vsself-absorption
7 6.1

Thinking and talking about yourself too much and feeling better than others

focuses inwardly on private thoughts and feelings rather than public boasting
egoism
vsself-absorption
2 7.2

A habit of caring mainly about your own needs and not others

is an excessive inward preoccupation rather than a simple self-interest tendency
egomania
vsself-absorption
1 9.1

A very strong focus on yourself and your needs

is a strong inward preoccupation but not always a clinical obsession
egocentricity
vsself-absorption
1 8.2

A habit of putting your own needs before other people's

is an inward preoccupation with thoughts and feelings rather than viewpoint neglect
selfism
vsself-absorption
9.5

Putting your own needs before the needs of other people

is an inward preoccupation with thoughts and feelings rather than a belief system
self-concern
vsself-absorption
5.3

Care for your own needs and interests

is an excessive inward preoccupation rather than ordinary personal care

Antonyms

14 3.9

To care more about other people's needs than your own

How Self-Absorbed

narcissism
34 8.1
egocentrism
1 8.8
self-absorption
4 8.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

self-absorption = absorption (transparent) = self + absorption

Clear compound of 'self' + 'absorption' meaning being absorbed in oneself, directly predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Self-absorption comes from the parts self and absorb; self means the person, and absorb originally means 'to take in', like a sponge soaking up water. So self-absorption is when someone soaks up their own thoughts and feelings and pays little attention to others.