selfsame
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- selfsameness noun
Etymology
Origin of selfsame
1375–1425; late Middle English selve same; self, same; cognate with Danish selvsamme, Old High German selbsama
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A little roughed-up, a little damp, but the selfsame sand.
From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2023
Instead of reflection on that point, we have to grapple with the fact that it comes from the selfsame jurists who see every critique of their own conduct as intolerable.
From Slate • Dec. 5, 2022
After real human curiosity is ignited in Phil’s blighted being, then comes room for actual humanity as he brings a forgotten soul to the selfsame counter for one bowl, then another, of soup.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 31, 2021
And one of the editors was John Curtice, whose exit poll this evening now poses that selfsame question once again, nearly 30 years on.
From The Guardian • Dec. 12, 2019
The land in the scopes’ view was all a blur of vegetation and selfsame coast.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.