self-congratulation

American  

[self-kuhn-grach-uh-ley-shuhn, -graj-, -kuhng-, self-] / ˈsɛlf kənˌgrætʃ əˈleɪ ʃən, -ˌgrædʒ-, -kəŋ-, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. the expression or feeling of uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's own accomplishment, good fortune, etc.; complacency.

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self-congratulation British  

noun

1. the state or an instance of congratulating or being pleased with oneself

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Other Word Forms

• self-congratulating adjective
• self-congratulatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of self-congratulation

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

The self-congratulation went down badly with some of his audience, according to the people close to Lloyd’s.

From The Wall Street Journal

A wave of self-congratulation then swept over the domestic game - principles had won out over finance.

From BBC

I’m not at all convinced that any memoir, even the most self-aware, completely escapes “revenge” or “justification” in the telling, but in this instance I don’t see much evidence of the “self-congratulation” that Shapiro suggests is the inevitable endpoint of such impulses.

From New York Times

Ostensibly the story of a destructive love affair that upends her marriage, her family and her life, “Blow Your House Down” posits itself as a feminist manifesto, and its author veers between the two poles that are the greatest no-nos in writing about the self: revenge and justification bordering on self-congratulation.

From New York Times

Rage is incoherent — although observed rage, or revenge, or even self-congratulation, can be coherent.

From New York Times