have a word with oneself

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To think or talk to oneself

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

tự nghĩ hoặc tự nói với mình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to have a conversation with one's own self
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She stepped outside to have a word with herself before making the decision

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “have a word with oneself” mean?

To think or talk to oneself Literally: to have a conversation with one's own self

Is “have a word with oneself” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.