エゴ
えご
noun
ego; selfishness; self-centeredness
1.
ego; selfishness; self-centeredness
Selfish attitude or behavior that prioritizes one's own desires over others. From English 'ego.' Carries a strongly negative connotation in Japanese, closer to 'selfishness' than the neutral psychological sense.
それはエゴだよ。
That's just selfishness.
親のエゴを子どもに押し付けるな。
Don't force your parental ego on your children.
環境保護を訴えながら車に乗るのは、エゴではないかと言われた。
I was told that driving a car while advocating for environmental protection is hypocritical selfishness.
Borrowed from English 'ego,' but in Japanese this word almost always carries a negative connotation of selfishness — it is rarely used in the neutral psychological or philosophical sense. When Japanese speakers say エゴ, they typically mean someone is acting selfishly or imposing their own desires.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- エゴを通す: to push through one's selfish desires
- エゴを押し付ける: to force one's selfishness on others
- 親のエゴ: parental selfishness
- エゴイスト: egoist; selfish person
- エゴイズム: egoism
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 我がまま: selfishness; willfulness — more colloquial and broader in usage, common in everyday speech
- 自己中: self-centered (abbreviation of 自己中心的) — casual/slang, very common among younger speakers
- 利己的: selfish; self-interested — more formal and literary