self-love
10 synonyms and 5 antonyms for self-love, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — Regard for your own wellbeing and worth, shown in treating yourself with the same care, honesty and forgiveness you would give someone you love.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
Regard for your own wellbeing and worth, shown in treating yourself with the same care, honesty and forgiveness you would give someone you love.
“Learning to say no was the beginning of self-love for her.”
Opposites
2. noun formal, older use
Excessive concern with yourself; vanity or conceit.
“His memoirs are an exercise in undisguised self-love.”
Opposites
3. noun euphemistic
Masturbation.
“The chapter on self-love is the frankest in the book.”
How to use self-love
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
The positive sense now dominates and is standard in wellbeing writing; the older vanity sense survives mainly in literary and formal prose.
