SKIP TO CONTENT

selfie

/ˈsɛlfi/
/ˈsɛlfi/
IPA guide

Other forms: selfies

If you flip your cellphone around to take a photo of yourself, you'll end up with a selfie. When you visit Paris, don't forget to take a selfie at night with the Eiffel Tower in the background!

Selfie is a true 21st-century word, coined around 2002 in Australia. This type of slang word formation — known as a hypocorism, or nickname — is incredibly popular in that country, where a mosquito is a mozzie and a present is a prezzie. By 2013, using cellphones to snap casual self-portraits was so common that the Oxford English Dictionary named selfie its word of the year.

Definitions of selfie
  1. noun
    a photograph that you take of yourself, typically with a digital camera
    see moresee less
    type of:
    exposure, photo, photograph, pic, picture
    a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light-sensitive material
Pronunciation
US
/ˈsɛlfi/
UK
/ˈsɛlfi/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘selfie'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family