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How to describe a person in a word who keeps mentioning about his own life story or about himself for every topic that is being conversed? Be it interesting or boring, he has the ability to pick out something that has happened to him or he himself creates a chance to talk about himself.

Edit: The person is not selfish. He does care for others. I am just saying that the person relates everything to his life and talks about it, that too not even in a conceited way. This person is experienced enough to relate everything to things that has happened to him.

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    The term "narcissistic" has been widely used to describe such persona. Although the original meaning is more related to "admiration of one's own physical appearance".
    – BiscuitBoy
    Mar 7, 2016 at 4:24
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    In practice, you call him a bore.
    – Marthaª
    Mar 7, 2016 at 6:27
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    A (bad) date. =)
    – Burhan Khalid
    Mar 7, 2016 at 6:35
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    I think most of the answers are incorrect for the edited version of this question. Most of them would be appropriate for a conceited or egotistical person, not someone who has the skill to relate most things to his/her own life.
    – End Anti-Semitic Hate
    Mar 7, 2016 at 10:23
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    Maybe self-referential is closer to the idea you have in mind. It seems as though the quality you're trying to isolate is the person's tendency to see everything in the wold through the prism or filter of his or her own experience. In this regard, he sounds like an advanced case of every other human being.
    – Sven Yargs
    Mar 7, 2016 at 23:37

13 Answers 13

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Self-Absorbed

This is similar to self-centered, but perhaps has less of a negative connotation. A person who talks about themselves a lot may simply be introverted, and socially awkward, and therefore not have a lot else to talk about. They may also try to give themselves a sense of social relevance, not realising that it is actually counter-productive.

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  • Closely related would be self obsessed.
    – Kickstart
    Mar 7, 2016 at 10:40
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I like narcissistic,.

:egocentric [Webster's].

It is perhaps a stronger word than the definition and transitions nicely to the noun narcissist.

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    This doesn't seem consistent with the person not being selfish. Narcissism is an extreme form of selfishness.
    – user1751825
    Mar 7, 2016 at 7:51
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    Good point. I later thought of self-absorbed, but I was busy doing something else.
    – Stu W
    Mar 7, 2016 at 12:54
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    But plenty of helping professionals in medicine, law, etc., are narcissists and still might be great at their jobs.
    – Stu W
    Mar 7, 2016 at 14:33
  • @StuW those professionals might only care about self gain through helping others. Not helping others, in the professions you listed, could result in a self loss. For instance a lawyer's reputation is probably closely tied with their success rate, helping others is just a byproduct of their success.
    – Jonny Henly
    Mar 7, 2016 at 23:43
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    Isn't narcissism liking oneself and believing in oneself, one could also be self absorbed but being anxious or pessimistic. I.e. talking of one's troubles all the time, previous losses, fears of the future and so on.
    – mathreadler
    Mar 8, 2016 at 11:48
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It may be self serving but I find the following to be self evident:

Self-centered

adjective

preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs.

"he's far too self-centered to care what you do"

synonyms: egocentric, egotistic, egotistical, egomaniacal, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, self-seeking, self-interested, self-serving;

google

I selfishly presume you'll find this answer to be self-sufficient.

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    That's enough of me talking about myself; let's hear you talk about me.
    – candied_orange
    Mar 7, 2016 at 5:46
  • +1, particularly for the simiilar linked synonym "self-absorbed" (which I would have volunteered if it were not listed here).
    – Jeff Bowman
    Mar 7, 2016 at 6:48
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"Egocentric" fits the characteristics you describe. It's a little stronger to me than self-centered or selfish.

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egocentric:

Caring too much about yourself and not about other people

Limited in outlook or concern to one's own activities or needs

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You might consider, full of themselves

full of oneself

Conceited, self-centered, as in Ever since she won the prize Mary's been so full of herself that no one wants to talk to her. This expression uses full of in the sense of "engrossed with" or "absorbed with," a usage dating from about 1600.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer

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  • Isn't being full of oneself to think highly or proudly of oneself. One can be self centered but pessimistic / negative about things too.
    – mathreadler
    Mar 8, 2016 at 10:59
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An excellent Australian turn of phrase is to say that he has tickets on himself.

It's a shortened form of the saying:

If they were first prize in a raffle, they would purchase all the tickets themselves!

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    I've never heard this. Now I have!
    – Stu W
    Mar 7, 2016 at 18:14
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How about "egotist" or "egotistical"?

Definition of "egotism" from Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged:

the practice of speaking or writing of oneself especially in excess : boastfulness; specifically : the frequent use of the words I, my, and me

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  • Except boasting, the meaning is accurate. It is not required that the person keeps boasting about himself. He just talks something about him.
    – Nagarajan Shanmuganathan
    Mar 7, 2016 at 3:58
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    In fact, very depressed people may even talk about themselves a lot.
    – user1751825
    Mar 7, 2016 at 7:53
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What about solipsistic? From solipsism,

a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also: extreme egocentrism

I've seen it used to mean, essentially, believing the universe revolves around oneself. For instance, this 2014 essay by Rebecca Mead in the New Yorker (emphasis added):

But to demand that a work be “relatable” expresses a different expectation: that the work itself be somehow accommodating to, or reflective of, the experience of the reader or viewer. The reader or viewer remains passive in the face of the book or movie or play: she expects the work to be done for her. If the concept of identification suggested that an individual experiences a work as a mirror in which he might recognize himself, the notion of relatability implies that the work in question serves like a selfie: a flattering confirmation of an individual’s solipsism.

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    I don't think this quite works in the context, soliphism is more of a philosophy that nothing is real except yourself. It's a bit like Descartes' whole "I think therefore I am" thing. All you can be sure of is that you exist, and that for all you know, the rest of the world is the product of your imagination.
    – creative_name
    Mar 7, 2016 at 17:39
  • @user57467: I agree that is the original definition of the term. However, I have seen it drift to the "extreme egocentrism" definition in popular writing. See the example I found.
    – Matthew Leingang
    Mar 7, 2016 at 19:14
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How about "self-obsessed" ? It should be a good fit.

Definition as per Webster: overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests  Usage: A self-obsessed television journalist, she has a penchant for making herself the focus of every story

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  • 3
    Hi, Sharad, and welcome to English Language & Usage. If you look at the answers that have received multiple upvotes on this page, you'll notice that most of them include dictionary definitions and/or other explanations that help make them useful as standalone self-contained answers. You can do the same thing with your answer by citing (and linking to) a relevant definition of self-obsessed. Thanks!
    – Sven Yargs
    Mar 7, 2016 at 23:27
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Egotist: a person who is excessively conceited or absorbed in themselves; self-seeker

Ego comes from I. The added t to the word egoist refers to a person who is obsessed with himself and talks about himself relentlessly.

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  • no credits to "Word power made easy" by Norman Lewis? :P
    – Jony Agarwal
    Mar 13, 2016 at 7:40
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Either the phrase "preoccupied with himself" or "preoccupied with herself" can also be used in this situation. These phrases do not necessarily describe a person who is vain or narcissistic.

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I believe that some people are self-centered, and that doesn't have a negative connotation. It's cultural. I would bet for Egocentric.

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  • Egocentric has already been suggested by @Doug Glancy, I'm afraid english.stackexchange.com/a/312043/44619
    – Mari-Lou A
    Mar 7, 2016 at 17:20
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    Yes, finally someone understood that the person need not be associated with a particular characteristic that has a negative connotation. But the problem with egocentric is that it comes with a negative connotation like being selfish.
    – Nagarajan Shanmuganathan
    Mar 7, 2016 at 17:21
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A 'megalomaniac' person which it means a person who is obsessed with his/her own power.

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    A person with this mania doesn't necessarily talk about it all the time.
    – Chenmunka
    Mar 7, 2016 at 18:47

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