ego

Your sense of your own value or importance, especially when it makes you seem too proud.

• He has a big ego.
• Losing the game hurt her ego.
• Try to keep your ego out of the discussion.

Similar words: self-importance, pride

Common phrases: big ego, hurt someone’s ego, boost someone’s ego

In some theories, the part of your mind that balances your wishes with what is possible or acceptable.

• The ego deals with reality.
• Freud described tensions between the ego and the id.
• The therapist discussed how the ego manages conflicting wishes.

Common phrases: ego development, ego and superego, role of ego

The person whose position is used to describe relationships in a family tree.

• Ego is at the center of the chart.
• The diagram labels each relative according to their relationship to ego.
• Here, ego’s mother has two brothers.

Similar words: reference person

Common phrases: relatives of ego, ego’s father, ego’s family