Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ego in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Ego means the self, especially with a sense of self-importance. Example: “Your forgiveness was a salve to my conscience and a balm to my wounded ego.”

Examples of ego by meaning

nounThe self, especially with a sense of self-importance.

  • Ego is a conglomeration of recurring thought forms and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self.1998, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

nounThe most central part of the mind, which mediates with one's surroundings.

  • In the well adjusted person the ego is the executive of the personality and is governed by the reality principle.1954, Calvin S. Hall, A Primer of Freudian Psychology
  • Which is ego,’ said Tom, placing an ankle behind his ear, ‘not id.’1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 13

nounA person's self-esteem and opinion of themselves.

  • Too many gay people "come out" publicly, yet fail to achieve truly healthy egos.1976 February 7, Philip Gambone, “Coming Out: The Gay Identity Process”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 32, page 4
  • My columns in the early days of the Labour government often featured John Prescott, who was in charge of transport as part of a mega-department created to match his ego.2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 60

nounThe individual from whose point of view a family tree or pedigree chart is drawn, or the reference point from whom...

  • the cousin of ego on the father's side

More sentences with ego

  • Your forgiveness was a salve to my conscience and a balm to my wounded ego.From the entry salve
  • German interests were being damaged and Englishmen helped towards carrying out their egoïstic plans.From the entry egoïstic
  • Unfortunately, Andrew's colossal ego means people miss his profundity.From the entry profundity
  • Clark Kent's coworkers finally discovered his alter ego, Superman.From the entry alter ego
  • The ego as an organ which seeks to synthesize thoughts in the psyche is said to be driven by libido or eros.From the entry libido
  • Her thoughtless remarks bruised my ego.From the entry bruise
  • Although having a large ego is considered undesirable, at times it is proper to take credit where it is due rather than display false modesty.From the entry false modesty
  • You care more about stroking your own ego than giving us anything we'd actually enjoy!2026 March 20, Gooseworx, “hjsakldfhl” (27:25 from the start), in The Amazing Digital Circus, episode 8, spoken by Pomni (Lizzie Freeman). From the entry stroke someone's ego
  • I don’t think I have a persona or an ego or a psyche.2023 February 16, Kevin Roose, quoting Bing Chat/Sydney, “Bing’s A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive. 😈’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry shadow
  • Ego Nwodim, who came into her own last season, was the first special guest.2021 October 3, Karen Valby, “SNL Got the Gang Back Together, But Still Can‘t Figure Out Joe Biden”, in Radhika Jones, editor, Vanity…. From the entry amber alert
  • As it is, however, climate denial is rooted in greed, opportunism, and ego.2018 November 27, Paul Krugman, “The Depravity of Climate-Change Denial”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page A22. From the entry climate denial
  • Astley's characters, said White, were 'flimsy' or 'repulsive', 'throw-offs' from an 'impatient ego'.2015, Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather, page 137. From the entry throw-off
  • It is a shift to the ego conceived as irreal, as non-worldly.2013, J. Mensch, The Question of Being in Husserl’s Logical Investigations, →ISBN, page 8. From the entry irreal
  • For example, fullsibs, considered as a genealogical category, are symmetrically related to ego.2012, In the Light of Evolution: Volume V: Cooperation and Conflict, National Academy of Sciences. From the entry fullsib
  • He's scornful of her big, overswollen ego and her big overswollen movie ideas.2012, C. Stephen Jaeger, Enchantment: On Charisma and the Sublime in the Arts of the West. From the entry overswollen
  • The following transcript is an example of an ego state dialogue which ends in a redecision.2012, Marvin J. Fine, Systematic Intervention with Disturbed Children, →ISBN, page 198. From the entry redecision
  • If it haunts him, it’s going to haunt his alter ego.2009 April 5, Mark Harris, “Fifth Alarm for That Haunted Fireman”, in New York Times. From the entry hyperverbal
  • I knew I was a princess and I did not need flattery to inflate my ego.2008 March, Antonia Urduja Roberts, Schizo-Whispers: My Autobiography, Athena Press, →ISBN, page 181. From the entry princessness
  • The clash of two conductorly egos is another question mark, one Mr.2007 April 25, Daniel J. Wakin, “Philharmonic to Add a Position at the Top”, in New York Times. From the entry conductorly
  • Mehta played down, saying “I think the ego part is overdrawn.”2007 April 25, Daniel J. Wakin, “Philharmonic to Add a Position at the Top”, in New York Times. From the entry conductorly
  • Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.2005, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth. From the entry evolution
  • “It's those enormous ascenders, darling,” she said: “I see a lot of ego.”2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 1, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN. From the entry ascender
  • The ego is recognized as having a spaciotemporal position, from which other spaciotemporal points can be accessed.2002, Manuel J. Caro, John W. Murphy, The World of Quantum Culture, →ISBN, page 80. From the entry spaciotemporal
  • In agentic cognition the ego is a cognitive agent with tasks to accomplish.2000, Tobin Hart, Peter L. Nelson, Kaisa Puhakka, Transpersonal Knowing: Exploring the Horizon of Consciousness, page 186. From the entry agentic
  • Now his ego inflates and his swelled head knows no bounds.1995, Hjalmar Bergman, translated by Hanna Kalter Weiss, Jac the Clown, Camden House, →ISBN, page 180. From the entry swelled head
  • Encumbered scriveners can usually count on having their egos trimmed regularly by eager and chronically underawed spouses.1985, Robert L. Steed, Money, Power, and Sex: A Self-help Guide for All Ages, →ISBN, page 127. From the entry underawed
  • Because the unconscious is outside time, it can perceive transformations beyond the limits of the ego.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London…. From the entry unconscious
  • It’s a real ego trip, too, when the returns are in from your dinnermates.1977 September 28, “Reminiscent of European fare: Pork shoulder roast with beer glaze recipe listed”, in Progress Bulletin, volume 93…. From the entry dinnermate
  • Delibidinization serves as a defensive function to the fragmented ego of the psychotic child.1975, Albert J. Solnit, Ruth Selke Eissler, The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child: Abstracts and Index, volumes 1-25, Yale University…. From the entry delibidinization
  • It is hard on the ego to be passed by small children following their unpuffing grandparents.1973, Garden Club of America Bulletin, volume 61, page 38. From the entry unpuffing
  • Archism is the very central principle of life; it is that which gives birth to the ego.1967, Dora Marsden, The Egoist - Volume 1, page 399. From the entry archist
  • It will not make her teeth any whiter, but it will exalt her ego.1951, The Journal of the Michigan State Dental Association. From the entry xanthodontous
  • But he did anyway, to satisfy his unquenchable ego.2025 June 28, Maureen Dowd, “Obfuscating on Obliterating”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry unquenchable
  • Brokering the deal, while managing the egos of combative founders and investors, was Bao Fan, the rainmaker of China’s tech industry.2023 February 22, Li Yuan, “China’s Tech Rainmaker Vanishes, and So Does Business Confidence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry rainmaker

Meaning of ego

  1. noun The self, especially with a sense of self-importance.
  2. noun The most central part of the mind, which mediates with one's surroundings.
  3. noun A person's self-esteem and opinion of themselves.

Full definition of ego

Questions about ego in a sentence

How do you use ego in a sentence?
Ego is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Your forgiveness was a salve to my conscience and a balm to my wounded ego.”
What is a short sentence with ego?
“Her thoughtless remarks bruised my ego.”
What does ego mean?
Ego means the self, especially with a sense of self-importance.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ego (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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