herself

reflexive of she · masculine himself · neuter itself · gender neutral singular themself · gender neutral singular themselves · plural themselves · alternative honorific Herself

1. femininepersonalpronounreflexivesingularthird personHer; the feminine object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject.

   Sandra injured herself.

   3 more examples

   The United States is causing problems for herself with this policy.

   This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Lizzo, who is known for messages of self-love and wider acceptance, has recently said as much as she shared that she is encouraging a stance of body neutrality for herself and others.

   2023 May 29, Madeline Holcombe, “Lizzo is teaching us about body neutrality. Here is what it means and how to get there”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2024

2. emphaticfemininepersonalpronounsingularthird personShe; an intensifier of the female subject or object, often used to indicate the directness or exclusiveness of that person .

   She was injured herself.

3. Irelandfemininepersonalpronounsingularthird personThe subject or non-reflexive object of a predicate; she (used of upper-class ladies, or sarcastically, of women who imagine themselves to be more important than others)

   What's herself up to this time?

   2 more examples

   Have you seen herself yet this morning?

   Was anyone hurted? Sure, they were just trailin' theirselves off the ground. Ye wud have died larfin'. There's Jimmy Hanlon was never his own man since, and I had me nose broke on me—I find it yet—and some says there was a wee girl from Tanderagee got herself killed.

   1915, Charles L Graves, Humours of Irish life, pages 241-242

1. honorificHonorific alternative letter-case form of herself, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.

   It is certain that Juan Diego was a virtuous man, who tried to direct his life along the road of righteousness, of honesty, of virtue, and to make all that pleased God bloom, who was chosen by the Mother of God Herself to be Her [i.e. the mother's] messenger.

   2006, Eduardo Chávez, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego: The Historical Evidence, →ISBN