What does egotistic mean?
Egotistic is an adjective describing someone who is excessively self-centered — a person so preoccupied with their own importance that they dominate conversations with talk of themselves, claim undue credit, and show little genuine interest in others. The word derives from the Latin pronoun ego, meaning "I", combined with -tistic, and it entered English in the eighteenth century alongside its noun form egotism. Egotistic is strongly pejorative: calling someone egotistic implies not merely confidence but an unattractive, often tiresome self-regard. It appears most frequently in descriptions of personalities and behavior — egotistic tendencies, an egotistic streak, egotistic remarks — and is closely related in form and meaning to egotistical, the more common variant of the same adjective. Writers should distinguish it from egoistic, which refers to acting from self-interest rather than to boastful self-importance.
adjectiveExcessively self-centered or self-absorbed; relating to or characterized by egotism, especially in the sense of thinking and talking about oneself a great deal.
- Excessively self-centered, given to self-importance and frequent talk about oneself.
- Relating to or characteristic of egotism.
"His egotistic refusal to credit anyone else on the team eventually alienated his closest collaborators."
"Her egotistic memoir devoted far more pages to her own triumphs than to the events she claimed to be describing."
"The critic dismissed the novel as the work of an egotistic writer who had confused himself with his subject."
"Ego" is simply Latin for "I" — so an egotistic person is literally someone who can't stop saying I.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of egotistic
Egotistic derives from egotism, which was formed in the early eighteenth century from the Latin pronoun ego, meaning "I", with an inserted -t- apparently by analogy with words like dogmatism. Egotism originally described the habit of overusing the word "I" before broadening to mean excessive self-importance generally. The adjective egotistic, along with the variant egotistical, developed directly from this noun. Related forms sharing the same Latin root include egoist, egocentric, and egomaniac.
Related word forms
How egotistic is actually used
Egotistic carries a clearly negative connotation of vanity and self-absorption. It is largely interchangeable with the slightly more common form 'egotistical'; both are standard in British and American English. In philosophical contexts, 'egoistic' is preferred for theories of self-interest.
Easily confused with egotistic
Egoistic means motivated primarily by self-interest (often in ethical philosophy), while egotistic emphasizes excessive self-importance and talking about oneself.