self-referential

American  

[self-ref-er-en-shuhl] / ˌsɛlfˌrɛf ərˈɛn ʃəl /

adjective

1. referring to oneself; used especially for a literary work that refers frequently to itself or other works by its creator or in its genre.

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Example Sentences

In a film this self-referential, that’s not just her character noting her off-screen absence.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

In a modern artist, such paint handling would be self-referential.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

“The government can’t cancel a show!” he laments before dropping a self-referential joke about “South Park’s” own vulnerability.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2025

After being handed a mock-up of McDonald's Island, featuring chicken nuggets dancing around a skirted Big Mac under french fry palm trees, Johnson rattled off a rapid-fire series of self-referential jokes about the show's history.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2025

They were all the things he tried not to be, showy and self-referential.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel