Entitled
entitled – aggettivo
entitlement – sostantivo
She is an arrogant, rude, entitled little brat.
Why do you feel so entitled? College is NOT a right.
They have zero manners. I think it’s the sense of entitlement they get from their parents telling them how wonderful they are.
Fino a poco tempo fa ‘to be entitled to something’ significava semplicemente ‘aver diritto a qualcosa’ e l’entitlement consisteva sia nella facoltà che nell’oggetto di quel dato diritto: un dipendente è entitled alle ferie e il suo entitlement è il diritto stesso nonché le ferie che gli spettano. Questo significato rimane di gran lunga il più comune, ma recentemente ne è affiorato anche uno peggiorativo, sia per l’aggettivo che per il sostantivo. Una persona definita entitled ha un elevato senso di autostima, crede di essere speciale e pensa che tutto le sia dovuto, e l’entitlement indica appunto questo atteggiamento.
Origini del termine
Il significato negativo di entitled e di entitlement affonda le radici nella psicologia e nella psicoanalisi, in particolare nelle riflessioni sul narcisismo; il suo recente affermarsi probabilmente ha qualcosa a che fare con la convinzione che si possa e si debba ottenere tutto ciò che si vuole… Perché in fondo, come dice lo slogan pubblicitario ‘Io valgo’.
entitled – adjective
entitlement – noun
She is an arrogant, rude, entitled little brat.
Why do you feel so entitled? College is NOT a right.
They have zero manners. I think it’s the sense of entitlement they get from their parents telling them how wonderful they are.
Not so long ago, being entitled to something meant having a right to it and an entitlement was that right; so if you are an employee you are entitled to a certain amount of paid holiday, and your entitlement is both the right itself and the amount you have the right to receive. While these meanings are still by far the most common, new and rather pejorative meanings have recently become prominent for both the adjective and the noun. Someone who is entitled has a disproportionate sense of their own importance or specialness that leads them to believe they have a right to have or do whatever they want without any effort on their part; and this feeling or attitude is referred to as entitlement.
Origins
The negative meanings of entitled and entitlement have their roots in psychology and psychoanalysis, in particular in discussions of narcissism. Their current rise in popularity perhaps owes something to the mindset that says you can and should have everything you want, as the advertisement puts it, ‘Because you’re worth it’.
