selfie en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈsɛlfi/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Middle English self English self Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English -ie English selfie From self + -ie. Attested since 2002, originally Australian English.
Meanings
-
(informal, qualifier:social media) A photographic self-portrait, especially one taken manually (not using a timer, tripod etc.) with a small camera or mobile phone.
I shall take this photograph myself. This must be what they call a selfie.
2017 August 8, “Say Cheese”, in Lily's Driftwood Bay, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Lord Stag (Stephen Fry):Barack Obama was talking to David Cameron and with the Danish Prime Minister, and that’s when she actually reached into her purse and brought out a cell phone and stretched her arms and did a selfie with them.
2013 December 13, Brooke Gladstone, quoting Roberto Schmidt, “The Photographer Behind ‘Selfie-Gate’”, On the Media”, in National Public Radio, archived from the original on 01 Jan 2026:The Mars Rover Takes A Selfie [title]
2012 December 27, Andrew Prince, “The Mars Rover Takes A Selfie”, in National Public Radio, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2015:Nothing is visible until the selfie is taken, which is half the fun. […] Posting the selfies on Instagram, where limbs are noodly or eyes are buggy, is meant to be silly, making it seem like the photographers take themselves — and social media — less seriously.
2022 July 3, Kalley Huang, “The Rise of the 0.5 Selfie”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2025:Um, drunk at a mates^([sic]) 21st, I tripped ofer^([sic]) and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.
2002 September 13, N. "Hopey" Hope, “re: Dissolvable stitches”, in ABC Online Forum, archived from the original on 23 Nov 2013:take a selfie
That's not to imply that it's "wrong" for your arm or hand to show up in a selfie.
2005, Jim Krause, Photo Idea Index, HOW Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 148:Don't take it the wrong way / I can never keep up / Sick of liking your selfies
2018, “She Works Out Too Much”, in Little Dark Age, performed by MGMT:Pre. Nice rooftop selfie. […] No Hair. Another nice rooftop selfie.
2004 October 21, Brian McGuirk, “bmcguirk's photos.”, in Flickr, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2004:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| selfies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
chelfie · stealthie · pelfie · relfie · shelfie · wefie · selfie camera · drelfie · nelfie · braggie · healthie · grelfie · twofie · killfie · footsie · nakie · dronie · melfie · legsie · slofie · welfie · ussie · selfie stick · brelfie · lelfie · selficide · shoefie · youfie · belfie · carfie · felfie · vaxxie · velfie · video selfie · helfie · delfie · groupie
Descendants
סֶלְפִי · selfie · selfie · svojka · fèineag · се́лфи · özçekim · selfie · selfie · szelfi · เซลฟี · selfie · sélfie · selfis · féinín · selfie · selfi · Selfie · selfie · სელფი · selfie · սելֆի · selfie · selfie · selfie · сэ́лфі · selfíčko · selfie · 셀피 · سِلْفِي · selfie · σέλφι · sjølvi · চেল্ফি · selfijs · selfie · selfie · selfi · се́лфі · selfie · セルフィー · سلفی · selfie
Hypernyms
Translations (97)
fa سلفی (photographic self-portrait) · be сэ́лфі (photographic self-portrait) · hy սելֆի (photographic self-portrait) · es autofoto (photographic self-portrait) · da selvportræt (photographic self-portrait) · fr autophoto (photographic self-portrait) · de Selfie (photographic self-portrait) · fi selfie (photographic self-portrait) · uk се́лфі (photographic self-portrait) · ms swafoto (photographic self-portrait) · pt selfie (photographic self-portrait) · eo memfoto (photographic self-portrait) · lt asmenukė (photographic self-portrait) · pt sélfie (photographic self-portrait) · vi hình tự sướng (photographic self-portrait) · lv pašfoto (photographic self-portrait) · ga féinín (photographic self-portrait) · el αυτοφωτογραφία (photographic self-portrait) · sk selfie (photographic self-portrait) · sh samoslik (photographic self-portrait) · th เซลฟี (photographic self-portrait) · mk самослик (photographic self-portrait) · ro selfie (photographic self-portrait) · id foto narsisis (photographic self-portrait) · fi omakuva (photographic self-portrait) · el σέλφι (photographic self-portrait) · es selfie (photographic self-portrait) · ko 셀카 (photographic self-portrait) · az selfi (photographic self-portrait) · ka თვითფოტო (photographic self-portrait) · sv egobild (photographic self-portrait) · ka სელფი (photographic self-portrait) · ca autofoto (photographic self-portrait) · is sjálfsmynd (photographic self-portrait) · ms سوافوتو (photographic self-portrait) · hu selfie (photographic self-portrait) · nb selfie (photographic self-portrait) · nn selfie (photographic self-portrait) · vi ảnh tự sướng (photographic self-portrait) · ru себя́шка (photographic self-portrait) · ar سِلْفِي (photographic self-portrait) · pap slfer (photographic self-portrait) · ga féinphic (photographic self-portrait) · ko 셀피 (photographic self-portrait) · lv selfijs (photographic self-portrait) · gd fèineag (photographic self-portrait) · tr özçekim (photographic self-portrait) · fr égoportrait (photographic self-portrait) · ms swagambar (photographic self-portrait) · sh selfie (photographic self-portrait) · bg се́лфи (photographic self-portrait) · ja 自撮り (photographic self-portrait) · es autofotografía (photographic self-portrait) · hu szelfi (photographic self-portrait) · da selfie (photographic self-portrait) · lt selfis (photographic self-portrait) · sh sebić (photographic self-portrait) · tr görçek (photographic self-portrait) · fr selfie (photographic self-portrait) · sk svojka (photographic self-portrait) · nl selfie (photographic self-portrait) · az özçəkim (photographic self-portrait) · lv fotopašportrets (photographic self-portrait) · sv självis (photographic self-portrait) · nn sjølvi (photographic self-portrait) · ru се́лфи (photographic self-portrait) · mi matatahi (photographic self-portrait) · vi tự sướng (photographic self-portrait) · id swafoto (photographic self-portrait) · ja セルフィー (photographic self-portrait) · vi seo-phi (photographic self-portrait) · ar سِيلْفِي (photographic self-portrait) · gl autofoto (photographic self-portrait) · sh samić (photographic self-portrait) · yue 自拍 (photographic self-portrait) · as চেল্ফি (photographic self-portrait) · es selfi (photographic self-portrait) · pl selfie (photographic self-portrait) · lv pašbilde (photographic self-portrait) · cs selfíčko (photographic self-portrait) · pap selfie (photographic self-portrait) · tr selfie (photographic self-portrait) · cmn 自拍 (photographic self-portrait) · fi meitsie (photographic self-portrait) · vi hình tự chụp (photographic self-portrait) · quc selfie (photographic self-portrait) · ja 自分撮り (photographic self-portrait) · vi ảnh tự chụp (photographic self-portrait) · ar صُورَة ذَاتِيَّة (photographic self-portrait) · it selfie (photographic self-portrait) · sv selfie (photographic self-portrait) · he סֶלְפִי (photographic self-portrait) · mi kiriāhua (photographic self-portrait) · ko 셀프카메라 (photographic self-portrait) · el αυτοφωτογράφιση (photographic self-portrait) · afb سلفي (photographic self-portrait) · cy hunlun (photographic self-portrait)