egomaniac · noun — A person obsessed with their own (supposed) importance. It carries an Arena rating of 1591, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, egomaniac ranks #1,047 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,778 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words, #3,107 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #3,478 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words.
egomaniac is pronounced /iɡoʊˈmeɪniæk/.
Why “egomaniac” is a great word
A person obsessively preoccupied with their own importance, power, or needs. From ego- (from Latin ego, "I, self") + -maniac (from Greek mania, "madness, frenzy"), literally "one mad with self-interest"; first attested in English in 1890. Unlike an "egotist," who bores with boastful chatter, or a clinical "narcissist," whose grandiosity fits a defined pathology, the egomaniac is driven by a ravenous, all-consuming hunger for validation that bends reality inward. It is the glazed eye that sees only its own reflection, the monologue that cannot fathom an interjection, the absolute certainty that the universe hums a tune only they can hear—a deafening, solitary state religion where the world exists only to whisper back the single, sacred word: you.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From ego- + -maniac.
noun
- A person obsessed with their own (supposed) importance.e.g.“He's a raving egomaniac: all he ever talks about is himself and how important he is.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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