ego

ego — noun

1. the way you think about how much you are worth as a person, especially whether y

1.nounB2
Definition

the way you think about how much you are worth as a person, especially whether you feel confident or believe you are better than other people

Example

Ravi's ego was badly bruised when his team rejected his project proposal.

collocation: ego + bruised / damaged / hurt

A healthy ego helps people stay confident when they face difficult challenges.

collocation: healthy / strong / fragile ego

Common collocations
  • bruised ego
  • inflated ego
  • healthy ego
  • massive ego
  • stroke someone's ego
  • feed someone's ego
  • boost someone's ego
Synonyms
  • self-esteem

    more neutral; ego can carry a negative connotation of excessive pride

  • self-importance

    always negative, focuses on inflated sense of one's own value

  • pride

    broader; can be positive (pride in one's work) while ego usually relates to oneself

  • vanity

    specifically about appearance or achievements; more superficial than ego

Antonyms
  • humility

    the opposite of having a big ego

  • modesty

    a tendency to avoid drawing attention to oneself

Usage Note

Often used with possessive adjectives (his ego, her ego) or with adjectives showing size or condition: big, massive, fragile, healthy, bruised.

Common Mistakes

He donated money to boost his ego.
He refused help because his ego would not allow it.
ego relates to self-importance and pride, not generosity or kindness.

2. in Freudian psychology, the part of the mind that deals with reality and tries t

2.nounC1
Definition

in Freudian psychology, the part of the mind that deals with reality and tries to balance our hidden desires with what society considers right or acceptable

Example

In Freudian theory, the ego develops as a child learns to interact with the world.

technical term paired with id and superego

When Theo felt jealous of his friend's promotion, his ego helped him stay calm instead of lashing out.

ego mediates id impulses into socially acceptable behaviour

Common collocations
  • ego and id
  • ego development
  • ego and superego
Antonyms
  • id

    the part of the mind driven by basic instincts and desires, which the ego tries to control

  • superego

    the part of the mind that holds moral standards, which the ego balances against the id

Usage Note

This is a technical term from psychoanalysis. Outside academic or clinical contexts, Sense 1 (SELF-ESTEEM) is far more common. Distinguished from id (pure instinct) and superego (moral conscience).

3. your awareness of yourself as a unique individual — the identity that sets you a

3.nounC1
Definition

your awareness of yourself as a unique individual — the identity that sets you apart from others and gives you a feeling of being the same person day after day

Example

After retiring, Tomás felt he had lost his ego and needed to rediscover himself.

philosophical sense: loss of ego / sense of self

The concept of the ego is central to many Eastern philosophical traditions.

Common collocations
  • sense of ego
  • loss of ego
  • rebuild one's ego
Synonyms
  • self

    broader and more common; ego in this sense is more formal

  • identity

    includes social and cultural dimensions; ego is more about inner self-awareness

  • self-consciousness

    emphasises awareness of oneself as a thinking being

Antonyms
  • other

    people or the world outside the self

  • external world

    everything that exists outside one's personal identity

Usage Note

This sense is close in meaning to the psychoanalytic sense (Sense 2, PSYCHOANALYSIS) but is used in general philosophy and everyday reflection rather than clinical psychology. It focuses on the continuous experience of being a unique person.

Idioms

massage someone's ego

idiom

to say nice things to someone in order to make them feel more confident or important, sometimes to gain an advantage for yourself

The sales assistant massaged the customer's ego by praising her excellent taste.

Politicians often massage voters' egos with flattering speeches before elections.

ego trip

idiom

an activity or experience that someone does mainly because it makes them feel important or admired

His decision to sponsor the charity was partly an ego trip rather than genuine generosity.

The director turned the team meeting into an ego trip by talking only about his own achievements.

massage somebody's ego

idiom

To praise someone in a way that makes them feel more important or confident, sometimes insincerely.

The manager massaged her ego by praising her report in front of the team.

Why do you always massage his ego with compliments he doesn't deserve?

Word family

  • egotism
    nounC1
  • egotist
    nounC1
  • egotistical
    adjectiveC1
  • egocentric
    adjectiveC1
  • egomania
    nounC2
  • egomaniac
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words relate to how someone feels about themselves, but they differ in scope and connotation. Self-esteem is the most neutral and general term — it simply describes how much someone values themselves, whether high or low. Pride can be positive (taking pride in one's work) or negative (too proud to ask for help), and it often relates to specific achievements or qualities rather than the whole self. Vanity is narrower: it focuses on excessive admiration of one's own appearance, abilities, or achievements, usually with a judgmental tone. Self-importance is always negative and suggests that someone behaves as if they matter more than others. Ego sits somewhere between self-esteem and self-importance: it can be neutral (a healthy ego) or negative (a massive ego), and it is the most commonly used word in everyday speech for the sense of personal worth. For example, 'criticism hurt his ego' sounds natural, while 'criticism hurt his vanity' sounds oddly specific.

self-esteem ↗pride ↗vanityself-importance

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • sense of ego
  • matter of ego
  • blow to one's ego

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Ego comes directly from the Latin word ego, meaning 'I'. The ancient Romans used it simply as the first-person pronoun. In the 1700s, philosophers borrowed it into English as a term for the self or the conscious subject of experience. It took on its modern psychological meaning when Sigmund Freud adopted it in the early 1900s to name the part of the mind that mediates between raw instinct and social reality. Since then, the everyday use of ego to mean 'self-esteem' or 'self-importance' has become far more common than its technical meaning.