myself
myself Lexical Profile
myself Game Scores & Validity
• pronoun
Used by a speaker or writer to refer to himself or herself as the object of a verb or preposition when he or she is also the subject of the clause (reflexive pronoun).
"I accidentally cut myself while chopping vegetables for dinner."
Used by a speaker or writer to emphasize his or her own personal involvement, agency, or identity in an action or state (emphatic or intensive pronoun).
"I repaired the leaking kitchen faucet myself without calling a plumber."
My normal, healthy, or characteristic state of mind or body (used after a linking verb or the preposition 'like').
"After a full night of uninterrupted sleep, I finally felt like myself again."
Word Nuance & Usage
In standard formal usage, 'myself' is reserved for reflexive or emphatic contexts where 'I' or 'me' has already been established as the referent. Using 'myself' in place of 'I' or 'me' in compound subjects or objects (e.g., 'Please contact John or myself') is common in informal and business speech, though often criticized by traditional style guides.
• Rhymes for myself
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Evolved from Middle English 'miself', an alteration of Old English 'mē selfum' ('to me myself'), where the original dative pronoun 'mē' was gradually reinterpreted and replaced by the possessive determiner 'my' by the 14th century.