egoboost

plural egoboosts

1. informalSomething that makes one feel better about oneself.

   Raju gets a niche in her heart precisely because of his appreciation of her art, an appreciation that she sorely needs as an egoboost.

   1984, Shantha Krishnaswamy, “R.K. Narayan: Nightmare Comedy and the Ideology of Acceptance”, in The Woman in Indian Fiction in English (1950-80), New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, page 131

   5 more examples

   He showered and had a brief rub down in Physiotherapy, drank a cup of hot coffee gratefully that a student nurse had waiting for him, conscious of her worshipful eyes on him, knowing the cause of that worship, knowing that he was worthy of it. Egoboost, but well earned.

   1953 November–December, Rog Phillips, “From This Dark Mind”, in Fantastic, volume 2, number 6, page 67

   “Tuckerizing” is a private, ‘inside’ thing, a way of expressing friendship and giving an egoboost to admired and respected people.

   1974 June, Dick Geis, “The Alien Viewpoint”, in If, page 106

   In an ideal world you would ask your girlfriend and your girlfriend would say no. What’s more, she would then go on to assure you that all other men are mere slugs compared to you, that you’re the best she’s ever had, that you’re hung like an Irish wolfhound blah blah egoboost blah. In real life, however, your stridently intelligent girlfriend will realise that suspicious minds stem from suspicious deeds and that it is actually you who is either having, or thinking about having, an affair.

   1998, Emma Tom, Babewatch, Sceptre, →ISBN, page 211

   To commit an act so horrible, at least by the standards of contemporary society, an act so vilified, and to get totally and utterly away with it—well, one couldn’t help but get a little egoboost out of that.

   2000, William Bernhardt, Silent Justice, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 66

   I loved the game, I loved all these wonderful characters that my friends and I had created, I loved the egoboost I got from my players after an especially exciting session … but I loved having a house to live in, too, which meant I had to keep making those pesky mortgage payments.

   2001 May 15, George R. R. Martin, “The Game That Ate My Life”, in Wild Cards, Gollancz, published 2012, →ISBN, page 565