Daily Thai Confidence — Using หลงตัวเอง (hlǔng dtūa-āeng)

Verb: หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng)
Meaning: to be self-absorbed / to be vain / to be self-obsessed / narcissistic

In this Thai lesson, we learn how to use the verb หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng), which means ‘to be self-absorbed,’ ‘to be vain,’ ‘to be self-obsessed,’ or ‘narcissistic.’ It describes someone who believes they are very important, attractive, or superior, often without considering others.

This verb phrase is made up of two words:

• หลง (^hlǔng) = to be lost in / to be obsessed with / to be captivated by
• ตัวเอง (dtūa-āeng) = oneself

Together, หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng) means ‘to be lost in oneself’ or ‘to be self-obsorbed.’ It is a verb phrase that functions like an adjective in translation, but grammatically it describes a state of behaviour. The core idea is being mentally focused on oneself too much, often ignoring others.

It is often used when someone:

• Receives too much praise
• Becomes overly confident about appearance or ability
• Stops listening to others
• Focuses too much on themselves

The typical structure usually follows the pattern: subject + หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng).

For examples (ตัวอย่างเช่น — dtūa-^awyàang chên)

เขาหลงตัวเองเพราะเขาคิดว่าตัวเองเก่งที่สุด

k^hǎo ^hlǔng dtūa-āeng p^hrót k^hǎo k^híd wâa dtūa-āeng gèng t^hêe-sùd
Literal: He lost in-oneself because he think that himself capable the most.
He is very self-absorbed because he thinks he is the best.

In this sentence, หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng) indicates that he is self-absorbed and has an inflated sense of himself because he believes he is the most capable, thinking that no one is better than him.

เธอหลงตัวเองจนไม่สนใจความรู้สึกของคนอื่น

t^hēr ^hlǔng dtūa-āeng jōn mâi sǒn-jāi k^hwāam-rúu-sèuk k^hǎwng k^hōn èun
Literal: She lost in-oneself until not interesting feeling of people other.
She is so narcissistic that she doesn’t care about other people’s feelings.

In this sentence, หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng) indicates that she is self-absorbed and focused on herself that she ignores the feelings of others and no longer considers how her actions affect them.

เธอหลงตัวเองจนไม่ฟังใครเลย

t^hēr ^hlǔng dtūa-āeng jōn mâi fāng k^hrāi lēuy
Literal: She lost in-oneself until not listen to anyone at all.
She is so self-absorbed that she doesn’t listen to anyone.

In this sentence, หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng) indicates that she is so self-absorbed that she ignores other people completely and refused to listen to anyone else’s opinions or advice.

เธอหลงตัวเองเพราะมีคนชมเยอะว่าเธอสวย

t^hēr ^hlǔng dtūa-āeng p^hrót mēe k^hōn chōm yéuh wâa t^hēr sǔay
Literal: She lost in-oneself because have people compliment a lot that she beautiful.
She is self-obsessed because so many people compliment her, saying that she is beautiful.

In this sentence, หลงตัวเอง (^hlǔng dtūa-āeng) indicates that she became self-absorbed because she received a lot of praise for being beautiful, which made her focus too much on herself and develop an inflated sense of her own importance.

Homework (การบ้าน — gāan-bâan)

Practise putting your newly learned Thai word into a sentence by translating the following sentences below.

1. He is very vain.
2. She is self-absorbed.
3. He started becoming self-absorbed after success.
4. Don’t be too self-centred.
5. Don’t be so self-obsessed that you think no one is better than you.

---

About Post Author