VOA · Ask a Teacher
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01Hello!
02This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Ahmed in Egypt about the usage of the words arrogance and ego.
03Dear Teacher, I'm just asking about the difference between arrogance and ego because I hear actors use them interchangeably in movies.
04Thank you for writing to us, Ahmed.
05I'm happy to answer this question.
06First, let's explain the word interchangeably.
07It describes using two things for the same purpose.
08For example, when we talk about the weather, the words cloudy and overcast mean the same thing.
09Ego and arrogance are both nouns and are often interchangeable.
10The American Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster defines ego as having a sense of self-worth and arrogance as having a much greater sense of self-worth over others.
11Arrogant and egotistical are the adjective forms of these words.
12An arrogant or egotistical person thinks he or she is better than other people.
13You have heard actors using both terms because they usually mean the same thing.
14But we have particular ways of using each of these words.
15Here are some examples of how to use the two words.
16That actor has such a big ego.
17He agrees to be in movies only if he gets to play the leading role.
18You can feel her arrogance when she makes all those negative comments about other artists.
19We sometimes say that a person has a big ego.
20But we do not say that a person has a big arrogance.
21That is because arrogance is a non-count noun.
22To have an inflated ego is another common way of saying that a person is egotistical.
23Arrogance is often used with a negative meaning.
24But ego, defined as a sense of self-worth, is neither positive nor negative.
25For example, The teenage years are important for the development of a healthy ego.
26When a person feels their ego has been affected negatively, we say that person has a wounded ego.
27And while we can use the expression a big ego, we rarely say a small ego.
28Instead, we say a person is not egotistical.
29Or we simply say a person is humble.
30For our readers and listeners, do you have a question about American English?
31Send us an email at learningenglish at voanews.com And that's Ask a Teacher.
32I'm Andrew Smith.
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