Is my friend a narcissist quiz — honest signs, no diagnosis

You searched "is my friend a narcissist quiz", so let's be straight about what a quiz can and cannot do. Narcissistic personality disorder is a clinical diagnosis that requires a qualified professional and a person in the room. Nobody can give it to your friend over the internet, and this page won't try. What a list like this can do is help you describe a pattern accurately — which is more useful than a label anyway.

Which of these describe how they behave with you, consistently?

  1. Conversations return to them within a couple of turns, every time.

    Not the same as being self-absorbed occasionally. The tell is consistency and speed.

  2. Your achievements get met with a bigger story, not congratulations.

    Competitive reframing is one of the more reliable everyday markers.

  3. Admiration is expected; reciprocity is not.

    The exchange is structurally uneven and stays that way regardless of what you do.

  4. Criticism, however gentle, produces a disproportionate reaction.

    Fragility under criticism often sits underneath an apparently confident surface.

  5. Rules and favours run one direction.

    Their lateness is circumstance; yours is disrespect.

  6. You've been idealised, then abruptly cooled on.

    Sharp swings between "you're my favourite person" and distance are worth noticing.

  7. Your version of a shared event gets rewritten confidently.

    When this is persistent and disorienting, that experience has a name and it's worth reading about.

  8. They're notably different in front of an audience.

    A large gap between public and private conduct is information.

  9. Empathy appears when it's useful and vanishes when it costs something.

    The presence of charm is not evidence against this; charm is often the delivery mechanism.

  10. You've started doubting your own read on basic events.

    Whatever the cause, this one is worth taking seriously for your sake, not theirs.

Reading your count

0–2 — Ordinary self-centredness, probably.
Everyone does some of this. Frequency and effect on you are what matter.
3–5 — A real pattern, worth naming to yourself.
You don't need the clinical word. "This person competes with me and can't take criticism" is more actionable.
6+ — A consistent pattern that's costing you.
Whether or not any diagnosis applies, you're allowed to reduce contact. If you're doubting your own memory of events, talk to someone outside the friendship.

Before you use the word

A label doesn't change what you should do next, and using a clinical term as an insult makes it harder for people who actually have the diagnosis. Describe the behaviour, decide what you'll accept, and if this is affecting your health, take it to someone qualified rather than to a quiz.

The lighter version

If what you want is to understand how the two of you fit rather than whether something is wrong, the bestie quiz maps the same territory without the loaded vocabulary. Or read the question lists and just ask.

Not a diagnostic instrument and not a substitute for a qualified opinion. If a relationship is affecting your health, start with Verywell Mind — Toxic Friendships.