A self-centred person thinks about themselves so much that they do not really notice what is happening to anyone else. They are not always unkind on purpose; that is what makes the word interesting. A self-centred friend will listen to your bad news and then, without meaning any harm, start telling you about their own day. The world simply sits with them at the middle of it. This is a criticism, and a fairly strong one, though it is softer than 'selfish': selfish is about taking and not sharing, self-centred is about attention — where a person's mind naturally points. So a self-centred person can be generous with money and still be self-centred. Spelling: British English writes self-centred, American English writes self-centered; both are correct in their own place. It is used before a noun and after be/seem ('a self-centred boy', 'he's so self-centred'), and often with adverbs like completely, totally, hopelessly. English also uses it gently and forgivingly about small children and about teenagers, because at that age everyone is a bit like this.