Selfsame

/ˈsɛlfseɪm/ · adjective

Meaning

Chiefly preceded by the: precisely the same; the very same; the same not only in being similar but in being identical..

Definitions by Sense

1. Chiefly preceded by the: precisely the same; the very same; the same not only in being similar but in being identical.
2. (archaic) Chiefly preceded by the: precisely the same person or thing.

Example Sentences

For both of you are Birds of ſelfe-ſame Feather.

In my ſchoole dayes, vvhen I had loſt one ſhaft [i.e., arrow], / I ſhot his fellovv of the ſelfe-ſame flight / The ſelfe-ſame vvay, vvith more aduiſed vvatch / To finde the other foorth, and by aduentring both, / I oft found both. I vrge this child-hoode proofe, / Becauſe vvhat follovves, is pure innocence.

He and his Horse, were of a piece. / One Spirit did inform them both, / The self-same Vigor, Fury, Wroth: […]

He trod the very ſelf-ſame ground you tread, / And victory refuted all he ſaid.

Mine be the strength of spirit fierce and free, / Like some broad river rushing down alone, / With the selfsame impulse wherewith he was thrown / From his loud fount upon the echoing lea:— […]

And Quack and Dupe, as we must ever keep in mind, are upper-side and under of the self-same substance; convertible personages: turn up your dupe into the proper fostering element, and he himself can become a quack; […]

But in [Isaac] Newton, science was as easy as breathing; he used the same wit to weigh the moon that he used to buckle his shoes; and all his life was simple, wise, and majestic. So it was in Archimedes,—always self-same, like the sky.

[T]hrough my police issue 200 × 6000 macroscopic laser-prism binoculars I could see he was the same guy who had just bopped the doorman in the head. […] But you can imagine my surprise when I angled said state-of-the-art bins to the street, watched the long black car as it rolled up and saw the self-same guy step out of it.

Synonyms for selfsame

Antonyms for selfsame

Related Words

Word Forms

• self same
• self-same
• selfsames

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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