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self
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
self
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a shadow/ghost of your former self (=be much less confident, healthy, energetic etc than you used to be)
▪ The team’s a shadow of its former self.
sb’s true self (=someone’s real character)
▪ He had revealed his true self.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
conscious
▪ Butler does not argue for, but simply presupposes, that a person is conscious of his self.
▪ Jaynes argues that at this stage in human history conscious examination of self was absent.
▪ With his conscious self, Lewis had a very distinct loathing of Ulster Protestantism.
inner
▪ Their inner self will avoid exposure by controlling their feelings and emotions.
▪ But we should not retreat into our inner selves.
▪ I was a reverse chameleon, shedding my inner self while my skin remained intact.
▪ But this was the first time he'd offered to share any of his inner self.
▪ However, it does provide a unique guide to Leonardo's inner self.
▪ We discover that the mysteries in others, which used to leave us baffled and frustrated, now enrich our inner selves.
▪ Start listening to the subtle thoughts and feelings, the slight shifts in energy, which bubble up from your inner self.
normal
▪ I was not my normal self ... I felt very deeply for him.
▪ With men other than Hank he was his normal self, or better.
▪ She looked defeated, quite unlike her normal self.
▪ Michelato seemed unmoved, his normal placid self, while Migliore sat in the car.
▪ But when nobody was there she changed to her normal self again.
▪ Dorigo has just been his normal consistent self.
▪ She is her normal loveable self with the family.
▪ He changed from his normal calm self into a frenzy.
old
▪ His old self would have scorned such sentimentality.
▪ The Raiders returned to their old, misbehaving selves, collecting 10 penalties for 90 yards.
▪ Only Lewis, unshakeable symbol of dependability, stays his old self.
▪ In June 1919, when he visited her in New York, Margarett found him near his old self.
▪ Those who know her say the actress is transformed from a care-worn recluse into her old vivacious self.
▪ He watched her closely, to see if she was her old good self, and she was-except for one new thing.
▪ If I thought I could unmake my old self so easily I was a fool.
▪ The new clothes became a clever foil for his old self.
real
▪ Though his compositions won many prizes internationally, Tan says that gradually, he found himself unable to express his real self.
▪ It is therefore something of real value although not part of the real self of man.
▪ And later, his real self.
▪ He looked just like Fand, his real self locked away so that his body could do nothing but Fincara's commands.
▪ But right out of his real self.
▪ My real self began to appear, I began to be afraid.
▪ Our openness to them and to our real selves are brought to our celebration and ministry of the Eucharist.
▪ The hypocrites take, or are given, all, and once they have it, show their real selves.
true
▪ The true self must be understood as engaging in the world in a specific way as part of a community.
▪ Or maybe my true self is yearning to be something like Mary Matalin.
▪ They were never more their true selves than when they were together.
▪ The true self goes into hiding to avoid the psychic annihilation caused by expressing itself without being able to get a response.
▪ Yet again he has shown his true self when unharnessed from the mature guidance of his former wife and manager Cheryl.
▪ Do I reveal my true self through my golf?
▪ In the dark, Seth would be his true self, his human face off but his dark glasses still on.
▪ What Pipher uncovers in her therapy sessions are girls who have drowned their true selves as surely as Ophelia did.
usual
▪ Ann was her usual quiet self.
▪ For the first time Loi was not his usual cheerful self.
▪ That of Cornelius was its usual angular self topped off with a twirling banner.
▪ Being ecstatic means being flung out of your usual self.
▪ Paula seemed to be her usual cheerful self.
▪ Old Chao seemed to be pulling his usual self back on with his sock.
▪ She woke and dressed, spraying on perfume in a manner quite unlike her usual self.
▪ I hope your health will be back to its usual robust self soon.
■ NOUN
defence
▪ Relatives of the men say they were wrongly convicted, as they had acted in self defence.
▪ He backs up Mill's claim that he was acting in self defence.
▪ They claimed that when they were surrounded by the gang they acted in self defence.
▪ Relatives of Poole and Mills say the two men were acting in self defence.
▪ She said it was self defence.
▪ She threatened him with a knife ... he pushed her away in self defence and the knife plunged into her back.
▪ Or are you innocent because you acted in self defence?
▪ The jury cleared him, deciding that Mr Waller had acted in self defence.
discipline
▪ We must have enough self discipline not to repeat 1989.
▪ Study Skills To help pupils study more effectively and encourage self discipline.
esteem
▪ A three point scale was used for each of the 12 self esteem items.
▪ A response indicating high self esteem was coded as 2, low self esteem 0, and not sure or missing 1.
▪ How did having cancer affect your body image and self esteem?
▪ Do more prejudiced children differ in their popularity and self esteem?
▪ Questions designed to evaluate the educational objectives of the projects were derived from other studies assessing self esteem and locus of control.
▪ By precisely wallowing in her own guilt and self pity she then needs to heighten her self esteem.
▪ Clothes are important - you should wear something which enhances your own self esteem and creates the right kind of impression.
help
▪ A friend recently told me her man didn't indulge in self help.
▪ There is a strong element of self help in the programme.
▪ He helps to run Body Positive a self help group for sufferers like himself.He welcomes any scientific advance but remains cautious.
▪ Self help Many community care schemes have elements of self help built into them.
▪ These will be grouped under four heads decentralisation, consumerism and participation, self help and joint action.
▪ Independence, self help and active citizenship have all been praised.
▪ Aims: to assist in the setting up of local self help groups and to provide information and counselling.
▪ This is yet another Northern Ireland example of self help in a very needy situation.
image
▪ Burman positions the body and the self image as one that is constantly being fashioned and remade.
▪ The mental aftermath points up how body changes can significantly alter lifestyles, relationships and self image.
▪ Ishmael the character is an objectified self, a projection of the self image and frame of mind of the narrator hero.
interest
▪ Besides, he says, the Democrats and the Greens only support it because of self interest.
▪ Technically sweet and politically acceptable, it avoids accusation of moral hypocrisy by using economic arguments to appeal to self interest.
▪ Statement E: Racism as rational self interest I think that's absolute nonsense.
▪ They're much more likely to be acting out of self interest.
▪ Does curiosity always hurdle self interest?
▪ Such distrust may extend to the suspicion that our decisions may be influenced by personal financial self interest.
portrait
▪ Perhaps the gallery should add the exception Louisa's vital self portrait.
respect
▪ No, we are not skilled people as such, but we also have our dignity and self respect.
▪ Above all what Cooley affirms over and over again is self respect and integrity.
▪ Perhaps the authorities are fortunate that the people up here have a certain amount of self respect for themselves.
▪ But whatever you do, maintain your self respect.
▪ Unpalatable truths are a threat to our self respect.
service
▪ Buffet-style breakfast and lunch; set menu for dinner; self service taverna.
■ VERB
become
▪ In his poem Secrets of Self Iqbal had suggested self-search as the key to becoming an integrated self.
▪ But lately, he is becoming his old self, aggressive and fearless in the middle.
▪ In order that Compacts eventually do become self financing it is very likely that employers will be asked to contribute to central costs.
▪ Thus, it became the first self to be born outside of biology.
▪ In the years since then, antiracists have become a discrete and self contained political formation.
▪ When Jack went away Piggy became more self confident and practical.
▪ A specialist module which enables the student to extend his/her musical skills in voice and become self sufficient in rehearsal and performance.
▪ He remembers the world before it became his world and himself before he became his self.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a shadow of your former self
▪ Following years of heavy losses, the company is only a shadow of its former self.
be/feel/look like your old self
▪ After five months in the hospital, I'm feeling like my old self again.
not your usual self
sb/sth's former self
▪ A man once famed for his intolerance, xenophobia and irrational rages has become a husk of his former self.
▪ However, such plans would have required Melanie to want to preserve her former self.
▪ Over the last few months he had become rather withdrawn and mistrustful; a subdued version of his former self.
▪ Sharpness docks is now a shadow of it's former self.
▪ Stark had taken me to a place where I could shed my former selves and start anew.
▪ The 1984 Geyserville was a shell of its former self.
▪ The trees were dusty and muscular; zealous visions of their former selves.
▪ There he was with his cigar, a shadow of his former self.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He may be in danger of injuring self or others.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ His old self would have scorned such sentimentality.
▪ I know I should be making an effort to follow what Neil is saying. trying to integrate the self..
▪ In contrast, figures outside the high cultural sphere often consciously try to abandon their sense of self.
▪ There he was with his cigar, a shadow of his former self.
▪ Through metaphor Thoreau renders the self and nature in total interrelationship without slighting either half of the duality.
▪ We have often a choice: self pity or spiritual power through suffering.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Self

Self \Self\ (s[e^]lf), a. [AS. self, seolf, sylf; akin to OS. self, OFries. self, D. zelf, G. selb, selber, selbst, Dan. selv. Sw. sjelf, Icel. sj[=a]lfr, Goth. silba. Cf. Selvage.]

  1. Same; particular; very; identical. [Obs., except in the compound selfsame.] ``On these self hills.''
    --Sir. W. Raleigh.

    To shoot another arrow that self way Which you did shoot the first.
    --Shak.

    At that self moment enters Palamon.
    --Dryden.

  2. Having its own or a single nature or character, as in color, composition, etc., without addition or change; unmixed; as, a self bow, one made from a single piece of wood; self flower or plant, one which is wholly of one color; self-colored.

Self

Self \Self\, n.; pl. Selves.

  1. The individual as the object of his own reflective consciousness; the man viewed by his own cognition as the subject of all his mental phenomena, the agent in his own activities, the subject of his own feelings, and the possessor of capacities and character; a person as a distinct individual; a being regarded as having personality. ``Those who liked their real selves.''
    --Addison.

    A man's self may be the worst fellow to converse with in the world.
    --Pope.

    The self, the I, is recognized in every act of intelligence as the subject to which that act belongs. It is I that perceive, I that imagine, I that remember, I that attend, I that compare, I that feel, I that will, I that am conscious.
    --Sir W. Hamilton.

  2. Hence, personal interest, or love of private interest; selfishness; as, self is his whole aim.

  3. Personification; embodiment. [Poetic.]

    She was beauty's self.
    --Thomson.

    Note: Self is united to certain personal pronouns and pronominal adjectives to express emphasis or distinction. Thus, for emphasis; I myself will write; I will examine for myself; thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt see for thyself; you yourself shall write; you shall see for yourself; he himself shall write; he shall examine for himself; she herself shall write; she shall examine for herself; the child itself shall be carried; it shall be present itself. It is also used reflexively; as, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself; he loves himself; she admires herself; it pleases itself; we walue ourselves; ye hurry yourselves; they see themselves. Himself, herself, themselves, are used in the nominative case, as well as in the objective. ``Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples.''
    --John iv. 2.

    Note: self is used in the formation of innumerable compounds, usually of obvious signification, in most of which it denotes either the agent or the object of the action expressed by the word with which it is joined, or the person in behalf of whom it is performed, or the person or thing to, for, or towards whom or which a quality, attribute, or feeling expressed by the following word belongs, is directed, or is exerted, or from which it proceeds; or it denotes the subject of, or object affected by, such action, quality, attribute, feeling, or the like; as, self-abandoning, self-abnegation, self-abhorring, self-absorbed, self-accusing, self-adjusting, self-balanced, self-boasting, self-canceled, self-combating, self-commendation, self-condemned, self-conflict, self-conquest, self-constituted, self-consumed, self-contempt, self-controlled, self-deceiving, self-denying, self-destroyed, self-disclosure, self-display, self-dominion, self-doomed, self-elected, self-evolved, self-exalting, self-excusing, self-exile, self-fed, self-fulfillment, self-governed, self-harming, self-helpless, self-humiliation, self-idolized, self-inflicted, self-improvement, self-instruction, self-invited, self-judging, self-justification, self-loathing, self-loving, self-maintenance, self-mastered, self-nourishment, self-perfect, self-perpetuation, self-pleasing, self-praising, self-preserving, self-questioned, self-relying, self-restraining, self-revelation, self-ruined, self-satisfaction, self-support, self-sustained, self-sustaining, self-tormenting, self-troubling, self-trust, self-tuition, self-upbraiding, self-valuing, self-worshiping, and many others.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
self

Old English self, seolf, sylf "one's own person, -self; own, same," from Proto-Germanic *selbaz (cognates: Old Norse sjalfr, Old Frisian self, Dutch zelf, Old High German selb, German selb, selbst, Gothic silba), Proto-Germanic *selbaz "self," from PIE *sel-bho-, suffixed form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (referring back to the subject of a sentence), also used in forms denoting the speaker's social group, "(we our-)selves" (see idiom).\n\nTrying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

[Alan Watts]

\nIts use in compounds to form reflexive pronouns grew out of independent use in Old English. As a noun from early 14c.
Wiktionary
self

  1. 1 Having its own or a single nature or character, as in colour, composition, etc., without addition or change; unmixed. 2 (context obsolete English) same n. 1 The subject of one's own experience of phenomenon: perception, emotions, thoughts. 2 An individual person as the object of his own reflective consciousness (plural selves). pron. 1 (context obsolete English) himself, herself, itself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned). 2 (context commercial or humorous English) myself. v

  2. 1 (context botany English) To fertilise by the same individual; to self-fertilise or self-pollinate. 2 (context botany English) To fertilise by the same strain; to inbreed.

Related phrases:
WordNet
self

  1. adj. combining form; oneself or itself; "self-control"

  2. used as a combining form; relating to--of or by or to or from or for--the self; "self-knowledge"; "self-proclaimed"; "self-induced"

  3. [also: selves (pl)]

self

  1. n. your consciousness of your own identity [syn: ego]

  2. a person considered as a unique individual; "one's own self"

  3. [also: selves (pl)]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Self (novel)

Self is a novel by Yann Martel. It tells the story of a traveling writer who wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a woman. It was first published by Knopf Canada in 1996.

Self (company)

Self was a series of three cyclecars built by the brothers Per and Hugo Wiertz in Svedala in 1916, 1919 and 1922.

The first car had a single-cylinder engine, the second a four-cylinder Phänomen and the third a Harley-Davidson V-twin engine. The cars were basically experimental cars and were probably scrapped quite soon. However the experience came in handy when the brothers started working at AB Thulinverken and participated in the development of the Thulin B.

Self (magazine)

Self is an American magazine for women that specializes in health, wellness, beauty, and style. Published by Condé Nast 12 times a year, it has a circulation of 1,515,880 and a total audience of 5,282,000 readers, according to its corporate media kit. The editor-in-chief is Joyce Chang, and the vice president and publisher is Mary Murko. Self is based at Condé Nasts' U.S. headquarters at 1 World Trade Center in New York, NY.

Self (programming language)

Self is an object-oriented programming language based on the concept of prototypes. Self was a dialect of Smalltalk, being dynamically typed and using just-in-time compilation (JIT) as well as the prototype-based approach to objects: it was first used as an experimental test system for language design in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2006, Self was still being developed as part of the Klein project, which was a Self virtual machine written fully in Self. The latest version is 4.5.0 released in January 2014.

Several just-in-time compilation techniques were pioneered and improved in Self research as they were required to allow a very high level object oriented language to perform at up to half the speed of optimized C. Much of the development of Self took place at Sun Microsystems, and the techniques they developed were later deployed for Java's HotSpot virtual machine.

At one point a version of Smalltalk was implemented in Self. Because it was able to use the JIT this also gave extremely good performance.

Self

The self is the subject of one's own experience of phenomena: perception, emotions, thoughts. In phenomenology, it is conceived as what experiences, and there isn't any experiencing without an experiencer, the self. The self is therefore an "immediate given", an intrinsic dimension of the fact of experiencing phenomena. In some other trends of philosophy, the self is instead seen as requiring a reflexive perception of oneself, the individual person, meaning the self in such a view is an object of consciousness.

The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions. With the recent rise in technology, the self has been discussed under various new emerging fields, such as Technoself Studies.

Self (band)

Self (stylized as sElf or SeLF) is an American alternative pop/rock band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and is largely the creative vision of writer, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Matt Mahaffey.

Though it is not considered a band and not a solo project, Matt Mahaffey is the primary performer of all instrumentation and vocals on studio albums. Other members have contributed occasional parts on albums and have participated in live performances. The band currently consists of Chris James (keyboards, piano, samplers, guitar, backing vocals), Mac Burrus (bass guitar, keyboards, horns, backing vocals), and Jason Rawlings (Drums). Past members include Matt's brother, Mike Mahaffey (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Timm Nobles (bass guitar). Mahaffey cites Electric Light Orchestra, Prince, and Pixies as some of his biggest musical influences.

Self (disambiguation)

The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness.

  • Self (album), by Quintessence
  • Self, an album by Paul Kalkbrenner
  • Self (band), an American alternative rock band
  • Self (company), a Swedish motor vehicle manufacturer
  • Self (magazine), an American women's magazine
  • Self (novel), a 1996 Canadian novel
  • Self (programming language), an object-oriented programming language based on the concept of prototypes
  • self (computer science), a keyword in many object-oriented programming languages
  • Self (sculpture), an ongoing art project
  • Self (surname), a surname
  • Self, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
  • Solar Electric Light Fund, an international development aid organization
Self (album)

Self is the fourth studio album by the English group Quintessence. It was the final album by the band to feature Maha Dev and Shiva Shankar Jones as both were fired from the band by Raja Ram prior to the release of Indweller.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "self".

Joining in the conversation also helped to take her mind off the nightmarish phantasm that was now abiding somewhere within her unsettled self.

Are we to think that a being knowing itself must contain diversity, that self-knowledge can be affirmed only when some one phase of the self perceives other phases, and that therefore an absolutely simplex entity would be equally incapable of introversion and of self-awareness?

It is absolutely not an experience not an experience of momentary states, not an experience of self, not an experience of no-self, not an experience of relaxing, not an experience of surrendering: it is the Empty opening or clearing in which all of those experiences come and go, an opening or clearing that, were it not always already perfectly Present, no experiences could arise in the first place.

For this reason one who is in the love of ruling from the love of self thinks nothing of defrauding his neighbor, committing adultery with his wife, slandering him, breathing vengeance on him even to the death, treating him cruelly, and other such deeds.

Dear as his daughter might become to him, all he dared to ask of Heaven was that she might be restored to that truer self which lay beneath her false and adventitious being.

It was almost as though he was morphing into someone else, a self he should know even more intimately than the amnesiac Judd, but to whom he felt a complete stranger.

This man, who had given up everything in life except his own self, fostered an amorous inclination, in spite of his age and of his gout.

They let their separate selves burn away like so many thousands of matches, annihilating themselves in an all-consuming transcendence.

He seems an apocalyptic egotist willing to sacrifice world for self, at least so far.

Enlightenment paradigm: the holism of nature produced the atomism of the self.

And this is precisely, as we have seen, the fundamental Enlightenment paradigm: a perfectly holistic world that leaves a perfectly atomistic self.

Therefore, we must add to the silent multiple permutations of the authorial selves one more: Kundera as self-inscribed reader who rewrites as he rereads, sending us back to the initial query.

The experiencing self in his autobiographical narrative is disciplined by an overarching intelligence that keeps directing the storytelling toward the pole of analysis.

It would be over six weeks before the Baptist would emerge from the privacy of his inner self.

And just now the bumping of the Tube train shaped his emotion into something that began with Success that poisons many a baser mind With thoughts of self, may lift-- but stopped there because, when he changed into another train, the jerkier movement altered the rhythm into something more lyrical, and he got somewhat confused between the two and ended by losing both.