Egomania is also known as an obsessive preoccupation with one's self and applies to someone who follows their own ungoverned impulses and is possessed by delusions of personal greatness and feels a lack of appreciation. Someone suffering from this extreme egocentric focus is an egomaniac. The condition is psychologically abnormal.

The term "egomania" is often used by laypersons in a pejorative fashion to describe an individual who is intolerably self-centred. The clinical condition that most resembles the popular conception of egomania is narcissistic personality disorder.

Over a century later, the term has re-appeared with a positive gloss to mark the post-modern quest for success and celebrity. 'Self-confidence is the key to all success...Some characterize Trump as an egomaniac...Ross Perot has a similar penchant for egomania'.

By contrast, the reticent are negatively labelled: 'it may well be a form of egomania...if you aren't willing to take a chance'.