self-made en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English made English self-made From self- + made.
Meanings
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(not-comparable, of a person) Having achieved success by one's own efforts, with little to no support from family members and others.
My father was the quintessential self-made man.
There was I a dragoon, roving, unsettled, not self-made like him, but self-unmade—all my earlier advantages thrown away, all my little learning unlearnt, nothing picked up but what unfitted me for most things that I could think of.
1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter LV, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 531:“These were people who were self-made, and self-made people made up their own words,” Mr. Sokolowski added.
2021 November 9, Max Harrison-Caldwell, quoting Peter Sokolowski, “Words Full of Sound and Fury”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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(not-comparable, of a thing) Made by oneself instead of bought or taken over.
Near-synonyms: homemade, homebrew, homespun, handmade; see also Thesaurus:custom-made
Originally each school was bound only by self-made rules.
1905, Fielding Yost, Football for Player and Spectator:
Antonyms
Relateds
Horatio Algerian · rags to riches · bootstrapping
Synonyms
self-formed · homebrew · self-structured · tailor-made · made-to-measure · handmade · custom-made · homespun · homemade · made-to-order
Translations (25)
id swabuat (made by oneself) · de selbstgemacht (made by oneself) · fi omatekoinen (made by oneself) · fi oman onnensa seppä (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · id swayasa (made by oneself) · ar عِصَامِيّ (made by oneself) · uk саморо́бний (made by oneself) · id swausaha (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · it fatto da sé (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · pl zrobiony samodzielnie (made by oneself) · fi itse tehty (made by oneself) · it venuto dal niente (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · id buatan sendiri (made by oneself) · ar عِصَامِيّ (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · ru самоде́льный (made by oneself) · pl zawdzięczający wszystko samemu sobie (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · es casero (made by oneself) · ru обя́занный всем самому́ себе́ (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · es hecho en casa (made by oneself) · pl własnej roboty (made by oneself) · id usaha diri (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · es hecho a mano (made by oneself) · el αυτοδημιούργητος (having achieved success by one's own efforts) · nl zelfgemaakt (made by oneself) · fi itse uransa luonut (having achieved success by one's own efforts)