What does "self-importance" mean?

An exaggerated estimate of one's own importance or merit, especially as manifested by the conduct or manners; self-conceit.

What is a synonym for "self-importance"?

Common synonyms include: accent, aim, amour-propre, arrogance, assurance, assuredness.

noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
An exaggerated estimate of one's own importance or merit, especially as manifested by the conduct or manners; self-conceit. uncountable
"Lord Marchmont was about thirty years of age, and what is generally called a fine-looking man. His figure was good, as far as his height and proportion went; but his movements wanted ease, and, consequently, grace; and there was something of self-importance in his air—the last thing in the world to prepossess a beholder in his favour."
2
an exaggerated opinion of your own importance wordnet
3
an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others wordnet

"Tom's full of his own self-importance."

From self- + importance.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.