self-distance

noun

The ability to critically reflect on oneself and one's relations from an external perspective.

“Ironic humor is an instance of the more general phenomenon of self-distance (Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science, By Brian Faypage, Page 33)”

OriginEnglish distance ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
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Meanings

nounself-distance (usually uncountable, plural self-distances)

plural self-distances

  1. uncountableusuallyThe ability to critically reflect on oneself and one's relations from an external perspective.

    Ironic humor is an instance of the more general phenomenon of self-distance (Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science, By Brian Faypage, Page 33)

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishdistance
  9. Englishself-distance

From self- + distance.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish itsekriittisyys
  • itsekriittisyysthe ability to critically reflect on oneself
Swedish självdistans
  • självdistansthe ability to critically reflect on oneself
Cite this entry
APA

self-distance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-distance

MLA

“self-distance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-distance. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-distance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-distance.

Source: self-distance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.