an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
"His ego was so swollen that he refused to listen to any advice from his colleagues."
(psychoanalysis) the conscious mind
"In Freudian psychoanalysis, the ego acts as the mediator between the unconscious desires of the id and the moral constraints of the superego."
The self, especially with a sense of self-importance.
"His inflated ego made him believe he was better than everyone else in the room."
In plain English: Ego is your sense of self-importance and how much you think about yourself compared to others.
"His ego was so big that he wouldn't listen to any advice from others."
Usage: Use this term to describe an exaggerated or excessive sense of one's own importance rather than simply referring to the conscious mind in psychology contexts. It often appears when criticizing someone who acts arrogantly or believes they are superior to others.
The word "ego" comes directly from the Latin first-person singular pronoun ego, meaning "I." Sigmund Freud's translator selected it to represent his German psychological term, transforming a simple personal pronoun into a specific noun for the concept of self-awareness.