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selfie

SEL-fee/ˈsɛlfi/

Pluralselfies

Verbselfies, selfying, selfied

3 meanings of selfie

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  1. 1
    nouncolloquialcountable
    A photographic self-portrait, especially one taken by hand with a small camera or phone rather than with a timer or tripod.

    He posted a selfie from the summit just minutes after reaching the top.

    The whole group crowded together for one selfie before the concert started.

    Similarself-portrait

    Note

    Australian English coined it: self plus the familiar ending -ie, first seen in 2002, when N. "Hopey" Hope apologized online for a blurry photo of a split lip: "sorry about the focus, it was a selfie." What makes one is who holds the camera. Jim Krause's Photo Idea Index (2005) allows the arm in the frame, and by 2012 National Public Radio could report that the Mars rover takes a selfie.

  2. 2
    verbcolloquialintransitive
    To photograph yourself, typically by hand with a phone or small camera.

    Tourists selfie endlessly along the famous old bridge.

    She wanted to selfie one more time before the fireworks began.

    Note

    The verb is the noun pressed into service, and its spelling is the trap. Selfies and selfied keep the -ie, but the -ing form drops the e to give selfying, as die gives dying. It takes no object: tourists selfie along the bridge. To bring in who or what appears in the shot, fall back on take a selfie with or take a selfie of.

  3. 3
    nounslangcountable
    A self-portrait that has been heavily staged or edited before being shared on social media.

    The influencer's feed is wall-to-wall selfies, each more polished than the last.

    That selfie has been retouched so heavily it looks artificial.

    Note

    Slang gives the word an edge. Calling a picture a selfie in this way judges it as posed, filtered or vain, where the everyday photo sense simply describes it. Nothing in the form marks the difference, so tone and context carry it. Words like polished, retouched or curated nearby signal the sneer. Keep it to casual talk; in neutral writing it reads as a dig.

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Origin

Formed from "self" and the suffix "-ie," the word has been recorded since 2002 and originated in Australian English.